Jerusalem, Mar 20 (AP) Fighting around Gaza's largest hospital raged on for a third day Wednesday as the Israeli military said it had arrested hundreds of Palestinians during its raid at Shifa Hospital.

Gaza officials said thousands of Palestinian patients, medical staff and others were trapped inside the sprawling complex, although the military said it allowed passage for those who wanted to leave.

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Mourners earlier in the day held funeral prayers outside a different hospital for 28 people killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes on urban refugee camps the previous night.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is determined to carry out a Rafah ground offensive, even as tensions between Israel and the United States intensify.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel this week as part of his sixth urgent mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began last October.

At least 31,819 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. A United Nations food agency warned that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza.

Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise October 7 attack out of Gaza that triggered the war, and abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 people hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others.

Here's the latest:

ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS IT ARRESTED 350 PALESTINIANS IN RAID AT SHIFA

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has arrested 350 Palestinians in its raid on Gaza's main hospital, now in its third day.

The military said forces were still operating in the area of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday. It says it found rifles, grenades and other weapons inside the hospital.

Israel said it raided the hospital because Hamas fighters had regrouped inside and were directing attacks from the compound.

The military says it has killed dozens of militants in the raid, a claim that could not be independently confirmed.

Gaza officials said thousands of Palestinian patients, medical staff and displaced people were trapped inside the sprawling complex during the raid, although the military said it was allowing passage for anyone who wanted to leave.

The Shifa medical complex had only partially resumed operations after a destructive Israeli raid in November.

The surge in fighting in Gaza City has raised questions about Israel's pledge to destroy Hamas' military capabilities. The group's continued presence comes months after Israel claimed it had defeated Hamas' forces there and taken control of the area.

22 PALESTINIANS RECEIVING MEDICAL CARE IN ISRAEL ORDERED TO LEAVE

JERUSLEM — Israeli authorities have ordered a group of Palestinian medical patients who received treatment for life-threatening illnesses in Israel to return to the war-torn Gaza Strip, saying they no longer are in need of care.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, a local advocacy group, says at least 22 Palestinians are affected by the order. It says they include cancer patients, babies, new mothers and older people.

Before the war erupted last October, Israel allowed Palestinians with serious conditions to enter the country for treatment not available in Gaza. Those services have all but halted since the October 7 cross-border attack by Hamas.

Nearly six months of fighting have displaced over 80 per cent of Gaza's population, destroyed tens of thousands of homes and left the territory's health care system barely functioning. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said the Israeli evacuation order has endangered the lives of recovering patients.

“Returning residents to Gaza during a military conflict and a humanitarian crisis is against international law and poses a deliberate risk to innocent lives,” the group said. “All the more so when it concerns patients who may face a death sentence due to insanitary conditions and hunger, along with the unlikely availability of medical care.”

Aseel Abu Raas, a spokeswoman for the group, said COGAT, the Israeli defence agency responsible for Palestinian civilians, had ordered the patients to leave by 3 a.m. Thursday.

In a statement, COGAT said Palestinians who do not need medical treatment will be returned to Gaza while those still needing treatment will stay, but did not elaborate.

Officials at two of the affected hospitals, Augusta Victoria and Makassed, east Jerusalem institutions that serve the Palestinian population, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Sheba Hospital, a major Israeli institution, declined comment.

Israel previously rounded up and deported several thousand Palestinian labourers from Gaza who had been working in Israel before the war.

It remains unclear how many Palestinian medical patients remain in Israel for treatment.

WORLD BANK REPORT SAYS FAMINE IS IMMINENT IN NORTHERN GAZA STRIP

WASHINGTON — Famine is imminent for Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip and is projected to affect adults and children between now and May, according to a World Bank food security report released on Wednesday.

“The situation in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels,” the report warned.

Roughly 1.11 million people, or half of the Gaza Strip's population, are in Phase 5 of the IPC Food Insecurity Scale — known as the “Catastrophe Phase” of extreme food shortage and unable to meet basic needs. Virtually all households skip meals daily and a significant portion of children under two are suffering from acute malnutrition, the report states.

The report recommends “restoring humanitarian access, curbing hostilities, and ensuring the safe delivery of aid to the population in need.”

Wednesday's report echoes similar findings released Monday in a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an agency that monitors hunger globally.

IRAN'S TOP LEADER SAYS COUNTRY WILL CONTINUE SUPPORTING FIGHTERS

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's supreme leader in his Persian New Year speech, said that his country will continue supporting anyone who fights with Israel, state TV reported Wednesday.

In a live broadcast, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that a great oppression is being done in the region due to the existence of Israel. “This is a very great oppression that has been going on for 10 years and this oppression must be stopped,” he said.

“Whoever enters this great jihad, humanitarian jihad, Islamic jihad, conscientious jihad, we support him and help him, and with the grace of God, we will achieve our goal,” Khamenei added.

The Iranian leader also rejected any accusation by the United States against his country about its role in the Israel-Hamas war and called it a US miscalculation.

Khamenei also said that US understanding of regional issues is wrong.

“Anywhere in this region — in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon — any action is taken by the fighting and brave forces of resistance, the Americans attributed it to Iran. This false analogy will definitely bring America to its knees,” he said. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)