Fierce battles in Gaza City as IDF troops close in on Shifa Hospital, where Hamas HQ is said to be

Fierce fighting continues in and around Gaza City between Israel Defense Forces troops and armed gunmen, as the military closes in on Shifa Hospital, where Israel says Hamas’s main headquarters are located.

Live footage of the area appeared to show heavy fighting in the vicinity of the hospital, with the constant sounds of gunfire and explosions.

Witnesses say that airstrikes continued in the area overnight.

Health officials say thousands of medics, patients and displaced people are trapped in the area surrounding Shifa Hospital, with no electricity and dwindling supplies.

The IDF has said it will help to evacuate babies from the hospital in the coming hours.

Israel has presented evidence in recent weeks that Hamas’s main command center is located underneath Shifa and accused the terror group of using the hospital and its occupants — with 1,500 beds and some 4,000 staff — as human shields for the elaborate bunkers and tunnels beneath it.

Additionally, Israel says Hamas has stockpiles of fuel and supplies that it is keeping from an increasingly desperate civilian population.