Image source, Reuters

As the BBC's Rushdi Abualouf reported overnight, Israeli forces have Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital surrounded - and there's great concern for staff and patients who remain there.

If there's no ceasefire or medical aid, "all the patients who are remaining in these hospitals will just die, and these hospitals will turn into graveyards," says Dr Mohammad Abu Mughaiseb, the deputy medical coordinator for the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Gaza.

He told the BBC World Service's Weekend programme that the intensive care unit of the main paediatric hospital in Gaza had been targeted by tanks, forcing MSF teams and other medical staff to leave and abandon patients.

“The paediatric hospital, the medical team left the hospital and there were five babies in the intensive care unit. These babies now are left alone in a hospital that is bombed, and these babies will die.”

Dr Abu Mughaiseb also said the shortage of drugs was so dire that surgeries were being performed without anaesthesia.

Nick Beake
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

At least four major hospitals in Gaza are now effectively on the front line of the fighting. Thousands of patients – as well as Gazans seeking shelter inside medical centres - have endured another night of Israeli bombardment.

Israel argues that Hamas fighters – by constructing bases under the buildings – have made these legitimate military targets. Hamas denies that it’s built command and control bases under hospitals.

Overnight, we’ve seen updates from charities focussing on two of the hospitals in northern Gaza.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) warned that the Al-Quds hospital may have to shut because of a lack of fuel and medical supplies, external. It claimed 500 patients were at risk with those in intensive care and babies on incubators likely to die.

And Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said their staff at the Al-Shifa hospital reported a "catastrophic situation" in the early hours before their communications went down, external. Power is now reported to have resumed, but the director of the hospital has told the BBC as many as 15,000 people remain within the complex.

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent, reporting from Riyadh

Leaders of Arab and Muslim countries are convening here in the Saudi capital Riyadh today to try to present a unified call for an end to the war in Gaza.

It’s being billed as an "emergency summit" - combining two originally separate events, the Arab League summit on Saturday and a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday.

But a statement by one of the militant groups in Gaza, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, mocked the summit, questioning how it could be called an emergency 35 days into the war. It said it expected little more than words from it.

In a rare move, Iran’s President Raisi is attending, following the rapprochement in March between his country and Saudi Arabia: two nations with competing interests in this region.

As he departed Tehran airport he said the time for words was over, and now was the time for action.

But conservative Arab rulers will be nervous about anything that risks inflaming tensions further in this region. The two biggest concerns at this summit are ending the deaths and suffering of civilians in Gaza and preventing a wider, regional war.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza is set to take place this afternoon in London, and the city's Metropolitan Police says it expects the march to be the largest yet.

The march coincides with Armistice Day, which will see Remembrance events taking place elsewhere in the city.

An exclusion zone will be in place around the Cenotaph and a large swathe of Whitehall, which the Met says will "in effect" ban pro-Palestinian protesters from these locations. The march route, from Hyde Park to the US embassy in Vauxhall, does not approach Whitehall.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has labelled the timing of today's protest "disrespectful" and urged protesters to be "mindful of the fear and distress in Jewish and Muslim communities".

French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC on Friday that Israel must stop killing babies and women in Gaza.

In an exclusive interview at the Élysée Palace, he said there was "no justification" for the bombing - and that a ceasefire would benefit Israel. But he also recognised Israel's right to protect itself and stressed that France "clearly condemns" the "terrorist" actions of Hamas.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu responded that world leaders should be condemning Hamas, not Israel.

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Our last post mentioned that a number of Gazan hospitals were on the front line of fighting.

Last night, eyewitnesses told the BBC that Israeli forces were close not only to Al-Shifa - but also to Al-Quds, Al-Rantisi and the Indonesian Hospital. There were reports of explosions inside or near them throughout the day.

A video verified by the BBC showed a woman inside Al-Rantisi saying the children’s hospital was being “besieged” by tanks, and was full of people who were told to evacuate. Other footage - also verified by the BBC and displayed at the foot of this post - showed tanks near the hospital.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that hospitals in northern Gaza had "reached a point of no return", risking the lives of thousands of people.

Welcome back to our live coverage. Late on Friday, we brought you the news that Israeli forces were close to key Gaza hospitals including Al-Shifa - the largest such facility in the Palestinian enclave.

This morning, there's growing concern for staff and patients at Al-Shifa - which is surrounded by Israeli forces. Intense fighting has been raging in the area, with Israel saying it killed dozens of Hamas fighters.

The international charity MSF says attacks on Al-Shifa intensified overnight and it has lost contact with medics working there.

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using Al-Shifa to conceal an underground command centre, but hospital staff have denied this.

Three other major Gaza hospitals are also now on the front line.