Two more major hospitals in Gaza closed to new patients on Sunday, with staff saying that Israeli bombardment plus lack of fuel and medicine meant more babies and others could die.

Gaza's largest and second largest hospitals, Al Shifa and Al-Quds, said they were suspending operations. With more people killed and wounded daily but half of the territory's hospitals now out of action, there are ever fewer places for the injured.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has managed to restore communication with health professionals at Shifa, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that the situation was "dire and perilous" with constant gunfire and bombing exacerbating the already critical circumstances.