A picture shows smoke billowing after Israeli bombardment in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on March 23, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

JERUSALEM - Chief of Israeli army's Southern Command Yaron Finkelman on Saturday said the raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza would end "only when the last terrorist is in the army's hands -- alive or dead."

Finkelman made the remarks during a situation assessment with other Israeli military officials at the hospital, once Gaza's largest medical facility and now one of the few hospitals still functioning in the enclave. The hospital has also served as a shelter for displaced Palestinians since the Gaza conflict began on Oct 7, 2023.

Israeli forces launched the raid on Monday before dawn with tanks and airstrikes. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, the forces also bombed and burned residential buildings surrounding the medical complex

Israeli forces launched the raid on Monday before dawn with tanks and airstrikes. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, the forces also bombed and burned residential buildings surrounding the medical complex.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that more than 170 people have so far been killed in the hospital area and 800 others have been arrested.

The IDF affirmed that all the fatalities were militants, a claim denied by the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry, who accused Israeli troops of detaining displaced people, medical staff, and patients, subjecting them to abuse, and coercing them to move south at gunpoint.

The army reiterated in a statement on Saturday that "senior officials" with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian armed group, hid in the hospital, adding that "numerous weapons and terror infrastructure" have been located.

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Video footage circulating on social media showed smoke rising above the medical complex, while another video clip depicted half a dozen individuals clad only in underwear leaving the hospital.

Amid a lack of food, water and medical care, at least five injured Palestinians trapped at Al-Shifa have died, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Late on Friday, Director-General of World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on social media platform X that 50 health workers and 143 patients had been kept in one building of the hospital since the second day of the raid, with "extremely limited food, water and only one nonfunctional toilet."

No basic medical supplies are available. "Patients are in critical condition, many lying on the floor ... Patients have no companions or caretakers," the WHO chief said, describing the conditions as "utterly inhumane" and urging "an immediate end to the siege" and "safe access to ensure patients get the care they need."

A woman hangs laundry amidst the rubble of the Rabaya home, which was destroyed by an Israeli strike, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Rafah on March 23, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

In response to the criticism, a spokesman from the office of Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, an Israeli governmental body, stated Saturday that Israeli forces had allowed aid to enter "a designated compound within the hospital," where sick and wounded patients were evacuated to ensure their safety.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 32,142, with 74,412 others wounded, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Saturday.

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In a press statement sent to Xinhua, the ministry said the Israeli army killed 72 Palestinians and wounded 114 others during the past 24 hours.

Hamas accused Israel of committing "horrific massacres" in the Al-Shifa complex, saying that "bombing defenseless civilians with drones is a war crime."

Israeli hostage death

Meanwhile, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced on Saturday the death of the first Israeli hostage due to "shortages of medicine and food."

In a statement, the brigades identified the victim as 34-year-old Israeli man Yigev Bukhatab, stating that hostages in Gaza face similar hardships experienced by Palestinians living in the coastal enclave.

The brigades also published a short video clip showing the body of Bukhatab, while there has been no immediate comment from Israel on the report.

Hamas kidnapped more than 250 people from Israel during a surprise attack on the southern part of the country on Oct 7, 2023, which also killed about 1,200 people, according to figures published by Israeli authorities.

Lotfi Gheith (left), the emergency operations centre director for the Egyptian Red Crescent, briefs United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (center) about items rejected by Israeli authorities that were bound for the Gaza Strip, at El-Arish International Airport in Egypt's northeastern province of North Sinai on March 23, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

After the outbreak of the conflict, Israel also imposed a blockade on the coastal enclave, home to about 2.35 million people, exacerbating severe shortages of essentials such as food, water, medicine, and electricity for local residents. 

Also on Saturday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, reiterating his call for an immediate ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

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"Now more than ever, it's time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It is time to silence the guns," the UN chief told a press conference at the border crossing.

"Nothing justifies the horrific attack by Hamas on Oct 7, and nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," he added.