Israeli troops conducted building-by-building searches at Gaza hospital amid new fears after communications shutdown in the disputed territory.
Since soldiers attacked the compound on Wednesday in search of a command center run by the Islamist group Hamas, al-Shifa hospital has become a focal point for Israeli operations in northern Gaza.
Hamas and hospital administrators deny the claim, and there has been international concern over many thousand individuals believed to be trapped inside, including injured patients and newborn babies.
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In reaction to the group's October 7 attack, which murdered 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, and took roughly 240 hostages, Israel has promised to annihilate Hamas.
According to Hamas-run municipal authorities in Gaza, Israel's air and ground operations have killed 11,500 people, including thousands of children.
Israeli officials have defended their operation, and the military announced Thursday that guns, ammunition, explosives, and the entrance to an underground shaft were discovered at Al-Shifa.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that captives were being held at the medical facility.
Allegations regarding the facility have not been substantiated, and contacts with the Gaza Strip were cut off again on Friday.
Network provider Paltel Group said all telecommunications were down since "all energy sources sustaining the network have been depleted, and fuel was not allowed in."
The UN worried that the outage would exacerbate human suffering by hampering aid distribution and even sparking looting of its goods.
"When there is a blackout and you can't communicate with anyone... that triggers and fuels even more anxiety and panic," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.
Israel stated its personnel were scouring Al-Shifa "one building at a time," and that the body of a female hostage had been discovered in a nearby building.
Yehudit Weiss, 65, was abducted from her house in the border kibbutz town of Beeri, one of the regions hardest struck by Hamas's violent attack.
According to a hostage support group, her spouse was slain in the incident.
