Deadly strike hits Gaza hospital

GAZA STRIP, Nov 10 (AFP/Reuters): Palestinians said Friday a deadly strike hit Gaza's largest hospital compound as heavy fighting between Hamas and Israel has sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing their homes.
Gaza's Hamas government, which reported a toll of 13, and the director of the Al-Shifa hospital, blamed Israeli troops for the strike at the facility sheltering people trying to flee the fighting. Israel did not immediately comment.
Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya reported two people were killed and 10 wounded in a strike that he said hit the compound's maternity ward.
A Hamas government statement said: "Thirteen martyrs and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on Al-Shifa compound today" in central Gaza City, giving a
toll AFP was not immediately able to independently verify.
On Thursday Israel had reported heavy fighting near the hospital, saying it had killed dozens of militants and destroyed tunnels that are key to Hamas's capacity to fight.
The Israeli army has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals, particularly Al-Shifa, to coordinate their attacks against the army and also as hideouts for its commanders. Hamas authorities deny the accusations.
Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters poured across the militarised border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages.
Vowing to destroy the militants, Israel retaliated with bombardment and a ground campaign that the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says has killed more than 10,800 people, mostly civilians and many of them children.
Abu Mohammad, 32, had taken refuge in the hospital along with 15 relatives after the bombardments of his neighbourhood in the northeast part of Gaza City.
Meanwhile, Israel has agreed to pause operations in northern Gaza for four hours a day from Thursday, the White House said, in the first sign of a respite in more than a month of fighting that has left thousands dead and stoked fears of a regional conflict.
The pauses would allow people to flee along two humanitarian corridors and were significant first steps, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.
"We've been told by the Israelis that there will be no military operations in these areas over the duration of the pause, and that this process is starting today," Kirby said.
The pauses, which would be announced three hours in advance, emerged out of discussions between US and Israeli officials in recent days, including talks US President Joe Biden had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kirby added.
Earlier, Israeli forces fought Hamas militants among ruined buildings in the north of the Gaza Strip, inching their way closer to two big hospitals as the plight of civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory worsened.