Newborn among dead as medical devices lose power at Gaza's largest hospital

Editor's Note: For the latest news on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here.

The health care system in Gaza was unraveling as Israeli troops encircled the Palestinian territory's largest hospital on Saturday and international humanitarian groups warned of a "point of no return."

Over the last day, the Al Shifa Hospital has been hit multiple times, "including the maternity and outpatient departments, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries," Doctors Without Borders said in a news release Saturday.

Fighting has intensified and supplies and fuel for generators have run out at Shifa Hospital, leading to the deaths of at least six people, including a premature baby and another child in an incubator, spokespeople for the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said. Throughout Gaza, 20 of 36 hospitals are no longer functioning, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Israel military officials confirmed clashes had occurred near the hospital, but Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied that it was under siege. Hagari said Israeli troops would assist with moving babies being treated there as needed.

Medhat Abbas, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, told Al Jazeera there are still 1,500 patients at Shifa, about 1,500 medical staff and between 15,000 and 20,000 displaced Palestinians seeking shelter after fleeing their homes.

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that "the healthcare system in Gaza has reached a point of no return," and called for the protection of civilians and medical workers at hospitals.

“There is no electricity. Medical devices stopped. Patients, especially those in intensive care, started to die,” Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa, told the Associated Press.

Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, told CNN on Saturday that doctors are providing artificial ventilation by hand for 36 babies they are caring for in the neonatal ward.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday on calls to do more to protect Palestinian civilians, saying the responsibility for their plight lies with Hamas. He cast blame on Hamas for preventing people from leaving when they were told to evacuate combat zones.

The Israeli military has said Hamas is using the hospital complex as cover for its operations. Hamas and hospital staff deny claims that Hamas has formed elaborate bunkers underneath the complex and used civilians sheltering there as human shields.

Latest developments:

∎ Saudi Arabia hosted Muslim and Arab leaders in Riyadh on Saturday to discuss a strategy for the situation in Gaza.

∎ Six people were killed in a strike that hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the southern evacuation zone on Saturday, according to the Interior Ministry, which is run by Hamas.

∎ The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry reports more than 11,070 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, two-thirds of them women and children; the ministry does not distinguish between civilian and militant deaths.

∎ Israeli officials provided an updated death toll, most of the killings occurred on October 7. The estimate is 1,200 civilians and 41 soldiers have died in the conflict. Another nearly 240 people remain captive after being taken hostage by Hamas.

Netanyahu demands release of hostages before cease-fire

Israel's prime minister pushed back on calls by world leaders for a cease-fire and said the battle targeting Hamas militants in Gaza would continue "full force."

Netanyahu said in a televised address that a cease-fire would not be possible until 239 hostages taken in the October 7 ambush in southern Israel were released.

He also said that after the war Israel would retain security control of a demilitarized Gaza; the United States has said it opposes Israel reoccupying the territory.

Civilians evacuate combat zones on Saturday

An evacuation window was opened early Saturday, part of brief daily pauses in fighting Israel's military has agreed to, to allow civilians an opportunity to leave combat zones.

On Saturday, a stream of people could be seen heading south on a major roadway, many on foot or in donkey-drawn carts. Since evacuation windows were first announced a week ago, more than 150,000 civilians have fled the north in Gaza, according to U.N. monitors.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Friday that "nowhere in Gaza is safe," raising concerns about airstrikes in areas that Israeli officials have designated as "safe zones."

IDF says it has taken control of 11 Hamas posts

Israel Defense Forces said in an update Saturday that it has taken control of 11 "Hamas terrorist posts" in the past 24 hours.

The Israeli military also said it had found and destroyed an underground tunnel route used by Hamas and neutralized a vehicle that was rigged to explode.

On Friday the IDF said its 401st Brigade had "eliminated" about 150 militants since the beginning of its operations in northern Gaza.

Florida state lawmaker facing backlash for comments on war

A Florida state lawmaker has received death threats after comments during a House floor debate about the Israel-Hamas war she said were misinterpreted. Florida Rep. Michelle Salzman, a Republican representing Pensacola, set her account on X, formerly known as Twitter, to "private" amid the backlash.

Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, was making closing arguments on a resolution she sponsored calling for a ceasefire in the war on Tuesday when she said tearfully, "We are at 10,000 dead Palestinians. How many will be enough?"

Salzman, whose seat was on the other side of the chamber from Nixon's, said, "All of them."

The comment was barely picked up by the microphones in the room, but it was loud enough that Nixon heard it. "One of my colleagues just said, 'All of them,'" Nixon said. "Wow."

Video of the exchange was widely viewed on social media.

Salzman said in a statement on social media and reiterated to the Pensacola News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that her comments were only referring to all Hamas militants, not all Palestinians.

"On Tuesday, I was proud to stand with my colleagues in absolute solidarity with Israel's right to defend itself," Salzman said. "I also commented that every single terrorist that attacked Israel and triggered this war should be eliminated – ALL OF THEM. Hamas are the ones responsible for all the death on both sides of this conflict. I will continue to call out the brutal attack and continue to fight against the rise in antisemitism in our state."

Responding to other comments on X, Salzman apologized to anyone who interpreted her comments to mean that she was referring to all Palestinian people.

"It's the most horrific of implications," Salzman wrote on Thursday. "I am so incredibly sorry for even the slightest of suggestions that I would want an entire community erased. My comments were unapologetically towards the Hamas regime – I NEVER said Palestine. As a wife and mother of a Jew, I stand strong in my support for Israel. But, the heartbreaking loss of Palestinian lives is never a desire of mine."

-Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal

Protesters support Palestinians in London streets

Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in central London on Saturday in a largely peaceful 3-mile march from Hyde Park to the U.S. Embassy calling for an end to bombing in Gaza.

Police in London said right-wing counter-protesters clashed with authorities and 82 were arrested.

’’There are a number of groups within this counter-protest who have split off and seemed intent on seeking confrontation within the main Palestinian march,'' Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said.

London police estimated over 300,000 people attended the march.

University pro-Palestinian and Jewish student groups face suspension

Columbia University in New York City, which is in the Ivy League, cut off funding to two student groups this week in the latest escalation of the tumult on U.S. college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war.

The groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, both had their Columbia chapters temporarily suspended through the end of the semester. Both clubs have expressed support for a cease-fire. They will not be able to hold events on campus or receive funding from the school.

"This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation, said Gerald Rosberg, senior executive vice president at the university. Rosberg did not elaborate on how the groups violated policies.

The announcement followed a massive student protest and walkout Thursday that included an art installation in front of an administrative building.

Elsewhere, a plan to prohibit a pro-Palestinian student group from state university campuses in Florida has been temporarily shelved while officials reassess the proposal. Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the state university system said Thursday that campus groups at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida thought to be chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine are actually “not chartered" or under the umbrella of the national organization, The Tampa Bay Times reported.

-Zachary Schermele and the Associated Press

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel-Hamas war updates: Gaza hospital goes dark amid fighting