At least one blast hit inside the Al Shifa complex, Gaza’s largest hospital, in the early morning on Friday, as fighting between Israel and Hamas intensified inside Gaza City. The Gaza health ministry said that one person was killed and several others were wounded.

Videos verified by The Times showed what appeared to be a projectile flying into the hospital’s courtyard and striking an area where displaced Gazans were resting overnight. The screams of people could be immediately heard. One man was filmed lying on the ground in pain, with his leg apparently mangled.

It was not immediately clear if there were multiple strikes. Ashraf al-Qidra, the spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, attributed an explosion to an Israeli airstrike that he said directly struck the hospital’s obstetrics ward on Friday morning. The Israeli military declined to comment on any of the claims, and both the source of the blast and the extent of the damage at Al Shifa were not immediately clear.

Dr Al-Qidra also said Israeli tanks had surrounded two other hospitals — the Rantisi Hospital and ِAl-Nasr Hospital — with scores of displaced Gazans and patients trapped inside.

That could not be immediately confirmed.

Israel has struck over 14,000 targets in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of its war against Hamas, a figure unrivaled in any of its other Gaza wars.

The Israeli military has repeatedly singled out Al Shifa in statements in recent weeks, saying that the hospital gives cover for a Hamas military compound. The Israeli military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said last month that Hamas “does its command and control in different departments of the hospital”.

Red Crescent death

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Friday that one person was killed and 28 others were wounded in a shooting by Israeli forces at Al-Quds hospital in Gaza, the organisation said.

The majority of the injured were children and two are in critical condition as a result of sniper fire targeting the hospital, a Red Crescent statement said.

Reuters is seeking comment from the Israeli military.

New York Times News Service and Reuters