Gaza hospital director says scores of patients buried in mass grave

Gaza's main hospital has been forced to bury scores of dead patients in a mass grave, its director said on Tuesday, as US President Joe Biden pressed Israel to protect the complex trapped in fierce combat.

Israeli forces were at the gates of the sprawling Al-Shifa Hospital they say sits atop an underground Hamas command base, but the militants deny the charge and doctors say thousands of people are stranded inside in horrific conditions.

"There are bodies littered in the hospital complex and there is no longer electricity at the morgues," said Al-Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiyah, adding that 179 bodies had been interred so far, among them seven babies and 29 intensive care patients who had died after fuel for the hospital's generator ran out.

"We were forced to bury them in a mass grave," he said.

A witness said the smell of decomposing bodies was everywhere in the facility.

The United Nations believes that thousands, and perhaps more than 10,000 people patients, staff and displaced civilians - may be inside and unable to escape because of fierce fighting nearby.

One witness said the fighting and air strikes on Monday night had been less intense, compared with previous nights.

Israel says it is not targeting the hospital, but has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to the attacks of Oct 7, which killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and resulted in 240 hostages being taken to Gaza.

The Health Ministry in Hamasrun Gaza says Israel's relentless assault has killed 11,240 people, mostly civilians, including thousands of children.

Israel's military says 47 of its troops have been killed in Gaza.

Mr Biden called on Israel to use "less intrusive action relative to the hospital", some of his most pointed comments on its operations to date.