As the death toll increased and combat heated up near and around hospitals, Israel came under increasing international pressure, notably from its principal partner the United States, to take more action to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Over 11,000 Palestinians have lost their lives as a result of Israeli troops attacking Hamas resistance members who were responsible for the October 7 attack in southern Israel during the five weeks that they have been bombarding the coastal enclave.

On a visit to India on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the toughest remarks he has yet made regarding the situation of civilians caught in the crossfire: “Far too many Palestinians have been killed; far too many have suffered these past weeks.”

Blinken did, however, restate American backing for Israel’s effort to prevent Gaza from being used “as a platform for launching terrorism”.

In a late Friday BBC interview, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Israel needs to cease attacking Gaza and killing civilians. He stated that whilst acknowledging Israel’s right to self-defense, France “clearly condemns” the “terrorist” acts of Hamas and that “we do urge them to stop this bombing” in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retorted that international leaders need to be denouncing Hamas rather than Israel. “These crimes that Hamas (is) committing today in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York, and anywhere in the world,” Netanyahu stated.

Israel has stated that if there were a ceasefire, Hamas, who are now holding up to 240 captives of various nationalities that were abducted during the attack last month, would take advantage of the quiet to reorganize.

The Saudi foreign ministry announced that Saudi Arabia will hold an unprecedented combined Islamic-Arab meeting in Riyadh on Saturday. The joint conference “will be held in response to the exceptional circumstances taking place in the Palestinian Gaza Strip as countries feel the need to unify efforts and come out with a unified collective position,” stated the statement.

With explosions and gunfire, the fighting near Gaza City’s congested hospitals worsened throughout the night and into Saturday.

The director of Al Shifa hospital, Mohammad Abu Selmeyah, declared, “Israel is now launching a war on Gaza City hospitals.”

Later on, he said that Israeli strikes on Gaza City’s Al-Buraq school, where residents were taking refuge after their homes were demolished, had resulted in the deaths of at least 25 people.

According to Gaza officials, early on Friday morning, missiles damaged the Indonesian Hospital and perhaps set fire to the Nasser Rantissi paediatric cancer hospital. The missiles landed in a courtyard of Al Shifa, the largest hospital in the enclave.

Later, the Israeli military claimed that Shifa was struck by a misfired rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

The facilities are in northern Gaza, which Israel claims is home to Hamas combatants. Inside are patients, medical personnel, and displaced civilians.

According to Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy, Shifa hospital’s basement is home to Hamas headquarters, meaning that the building may no longer be protected and might become a legal target.

Israel claims that Hamas conceals weapons in tunnels beneath medical facilities. Claims that Hamas refutes.

According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, the group’s contacts in Shifa had been compelled to evacuate the hospital in search of safety.

“Many of the thousands sheltering at the hospital are forced to evacuate due to security risks, while many still remain there,” Tedros posted to social media.

According to Ashraf Al-Qidra, a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, Israel has bombed Shifa hospital facilities five times.

“One Palestinian was killed and several were wounded in the early morning attack,” he stated by telephone. Videos that Reuters verified showed bloodied victims and scenes of fear.

Medical personnel had reported that Israeli tanks had positioned themselves near both the Al-Quds and Nasser Rantissi hospitals.

According to the Palestinian Red Cross, there were gunshots and violent altercations at the Al-Quds hospital, resulting in one fatality and twenty-eight injuries, the most of which were to minors.

At a briefing, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, the Israeli army’s spokeswoman, stated that the army “does not fire on hospitals.” We will take the appropriate action if we witness terrorists from Hamas firing from hospitals. We understand the delicate nature of hospitals, but we will shoot Hamas terrorists if we spot them.”

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s UN ambassador, announced that his country had formed a task group to build hospitals in the southern part of Gaza. Ahead of its ground invasion, Israel gave the roughly 1.1 million residents of Gaza the order to relocate south on October 12.

On Friday, Palestinian officials said that since October 7, 11,078 Gaza citizens had died as a result of air and artillery assaults.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry revised the original dead toll from the Hamas attack on October 7 to about 1,200 persons, although it added the figure could alter once all the remains are recognized.

Additionally, Israel claims that since October 7, 39 troops have died in fighting.

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