A man inspects the damage in a room following Israeli bombardment at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec 17, 2023, amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

GAZA/BEIRUT - The Health Ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that the Israeli army transformed the "Al Awda" Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip into a "military barracks" and grounded 240 people inside it.

Ashraf Al-Qedra, the ministry spokesman, said in a press statement that 80 medical staff members, 40 patients, and 120 displaced people are being forced to stay inside the hospital without water, food, or medicine.

Al-Qedra added that the Israeli forces arrested six hospital staff, including its director Ahmed Muhanna in addition to a patient and a companion.

According to the World Health Organization, only eight out of the 36 hospitals throughout Gaza are operational and able to accept new patients, and the services are limited

According to the World Health Organization, only eight out of the 36 hospitals throughout Gaza are operational and able to accept new patients, and the services are limited.

The two main hospitals in southern Gaza are operating at three times their clinical capacity while facing severe shortages of basic supplies and fuel. In addition, these hospitals provide shelter to thousands of displaced people.

Since Oct 7, Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the latter's unprecedented attack on southern Israel, which claimed the lives of about 1,200 Israelis, according to the Israeli authorities.

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3 Hezbollah fighters killed on Lebanon-Israel border

Separately, a Lebanese military source said three Hezbollah fighters were killed, and a displaced Syrian refugee was wounded on Tuesday in confrontations on the Lebanon-Israel border.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the casualties were caused by the Israeli bombing on border villages and towns in southern Lebanon, which also demolished five houses and damaged another 19.

This picture taken from the Israeli side of border with Lebanon shows smoke billowing following Israeli bombardment around the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab on Dec 18, 2023 amid increasing cross-border tensions as fighting continues with Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip. (PHOTO / AFP)

Meanwhile, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said that its fighters carried out a series of attacks on several Israeli sites in al-Malikiyah, destroying a Merkava tank and killing its crew.

Hezbollah said it also targeted other Israeli border settlements, including al-Motella and Kiryat Shmona.

The Lebanon-Israel borders witnessed increased tension since Oct 8 after Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attacks on Israel the previous day, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

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The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel killed 162 on the Lebanese side, including 114 Hezbollah members, a Lebanese army soldier, one member of the Amal Movement, a member of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party, 16 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and 29 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources.