Israeli forces storm Al-Amal Hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis

Gaza, Jan 31 (IANS) Israeli forces have stormed the Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip, the media reported.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Tuesday in a statement that Israeli forces demolished the outer wall of the hospital, and asked displaced people and medical personnel to evacuate immediately, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the past days, the vicinity of the hospital has witnessed intense Israeli shelling, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries and displacing hundreds of Palestinians from the area.

Al-Amal Hospital hosts thousands of Palestinians who sought refuge there as a result of Israeli shelling in various areas of Khan Younis.

However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied the report.

"There's no storming of the Al-Amal hospital, entry into it or any ordering of people to leave at gunpoint," an IDF spokesman said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday called for the protection of civilians amid the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

"The ongoing hostilities in densely populated urban areas, including areas surrounding hospitals, endanger the lives of the most vulnerable groups, such as medical teams, patients, the wounded, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly," the committee said in a statement sent to Xinhua.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 26,751 since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a cross-border surprise attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, said the Hamas-run Health Ministry on Tuesday.