Hundreds of people are reported to have left Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City – the site that Israeli forces have been searching for days.
“We raised our hands and carried white flags,” a journalist who left the hospital tells the BBC.
He talks of gunfire and explosions overnight and says that bulldozers have dug huge holes in the hospital yard.
Doctors said the Israeli military ordered an evacuation but the IDF says it facilitated a safe route out after a request from the hospital director.
The Hamas-run health ministry says 120 patients remain at the hospital, along with premature babies – the BBC can’t confirm the figures.
Israel accuses Hamas of running a command centre under the hospital – it has shown pictures of an alleged tunnel shaft and weapons as evidence so far.
