Israel faced growing calls on Saturday to protect civilians in Gaza as its fighting with Hamas encircled the territory's main hospital. Huge explosions rang through the night in heavy battles between Hamas and Israeli forces near Gaza's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa. A spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said operations in the hospital were suspended after it ran out of fuel, while an aid agency described the situation as "catastrophic."

The Hamas government and the hospital's director said a strike on the key health facility on Friday killed 13 people. Aid agency Doctors Without Borders said it was "extremely concerned" about the safety of patients and medical staff at Al-Shifa hospital.

"Over the last few hours, the attacks against Al-Shifa Hospital have dramatically intensified," it said in a statement on Saturday morning. "Our staff at the hospital have reported a catastrophic situation inside just a few hours ago."

The Israeli military says Hamas militants who rampaged through southern Israel last month have placed command centers under Shifa hospital and others in Gaza, making them vulnerable to being considered military targets.

Hamas has denied using civilians as human shields and health officials say growing numbers of Israeli strikes on or near hospitals put at risk patients, medical staff and thousands of evacuees who have taken shelter in and near their buildings.

According to the UN's humanitarian agency, 20 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are "no longer functioning."

Macron makes plea to Israel

French President Emmanuel Macron has said Israel had the right to defend itself after last month's Hamas attacks which killed 1,200 people and led to 239 hostages being taken. On Friday, Macron told the BBC that civilians were dying as a result of Israel's air and expanding ground campaign.

"These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed," the French leader said. "So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop."

The Gaza health ministry says Israeli fighting has killed more than 11,000 people, mostly civilians and many of them children, figures that cannot be independently verified.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed concern over the civilian toll. "Far too many Palestinians have been killed," he said during a visit to New Delhi. Blinken repeated his support for Israel and welcomed "progress" after the country formally agreed to four-hour pauses in its campaign in parts of Gaza where tens of thousands have fled in search of safety.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to Macron's comments that Hamas, not Israel, was to blame for the civilian deaths. Netanyahu repeated that Israel was trying to avoid harming civilians but that Hamas was preventing them from moving to safe areas and using them as "human shields."

Israel's Defence Force said its 401st Brigade had killed about 150 "terrorists" and gained control over Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza. Palestinians reported strikes or sniper fire at two hospitals and a school in Gaza on Friday.

READ MORE

Gazan charity helping animals on the frontline

Tusk close to becoming Polish President

Gaza's biggest hospital attacked

After five weeks of conflict, the Gazan health system was "on its knees", the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told the UN Security Council. The International Committee of the Red Cross echoed his comments: "Overstretched, running on thin supplies and increasingly unsafe, the healthcare system in Gaza has reached a point of no return."

Riyadh hosts Gaza summit

Saudi Arabia will gather Arab and Muslim leaders on Saturday for an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh, as the kingdom wields its influence to press the U.S. and Israel for an end to hostilities in Gaza.

Dozens of leaders including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi are attending the summit, which is expected to strongly condemn Israel's campaign in Gaza and call for a halt to forced displacement of Palestinians there.

Raisi said on Saturday that time had come for action over the conflict rather than talk. Raisi's trip to Saudi Arabia is the first visit by an Iranian head of state since Tehran and Riyadh ended years of hostility under a China-brokered deal in March.

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday