Humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens amid rising calls for ceasefire

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday it had lost contact with Gaza's largest medical complex Al-Shifa Hospital, where Palestinian officials said two newborns died and dozens more were at risk after fuel ran out amid intense fighting in the area, as the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsened.

In a post on social media platform X, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted reports suggesting the hospital was surrounded by tanks and some of those who fled the hospital have been shot at, wounded, or killed.

"WHO is gravely concerned about the safety of health workers, hundreds of sick and injured patients, including babies on life support, and displaced people who remain inside the hospital," he said.

Israel's chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the Israeli military would help evacuate babies from the hospital.

Israel has said doctors, patients and thousands of evacuees who have taken refuge at hospitals in northern Gaza must leave so it can tackle Hamas gunmen who it says have placed command centers under and around them. Hamas denied such claims.

Only seven out of 18 ambulances run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) are still working, according to a statement from the PRCS on Saturday.

The few remaining ambulances still working are at risk of "completely ceasing operations in the coming hours" due to a lack of fuel, the statement said.

Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday, the biggest yet in a series of rallies in the UK's capital to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. 

Despite of growing international call for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel's battle to crush Hamas militants will continue with "full force."

A ceasefire would be possible only if all 239 hostages held by militants in Gaza are released, Netanyahu said in a televised address.

Arab-Islamic summit condemns Israel's 'war crimes'

On Saturday, participants in the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia denounced Israel's "war crimes" in the Gaza Strip and rejected Israel's claim that its actions against Palestinians in the coastal enclave were self-defense.

The final communique released after the one-day summit, which took place in the Saudi capital of Riyadh and gathered the leaders of a number of Islamic and Arab countries as well as international organizations to discuss the situation in Gaza, called for an end to the military operations and siege of Gaza to allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

Participants in the meeting vowed to support Egypt's humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza and condemned attempts to displace Palestinians from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip or outside Gaza.

The leaders demanded that the UN Security Council adopt "a binding resolution" to stop the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza.

In his opening speech, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud reiterated "demands for an immediate halt to military operations, for the provision of humanitarian corridors to aid civilians, and for enabling international humanitarian organizations to perform their roles."

(With input from agencies)