GAZA CITY, Palestine

Three Palestinians were killed inside a besieged hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, by Israeli army snipers, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Wednesday.

"Three people have been martyred and 10 others injured inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis [...] by bullets of the Israeli snipers since yesterday evening," said Ashraf al-Qudra, the Health Ministry spokesman, in a statement.

Late on Tuesday, the Israeli army ordered all displaced Palestinians to evacuate the hospital, and allowed medical staff and patients to stay.

Eyewitness accounts, however, suggest that the Israeli army continues to open fire on those who try to leave the hospital.

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said a number of Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army while trying to exit the Nasser hospital.

Israel launched a ground offensive on Khan Younis on Jan. 22. The city's residents have since been fleeing under intense Israeli bombing, leaving behind their livelihoods and homes.

On Sunday, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was deeply concerned about the situation in and around the Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip, which has been surrounded by Israeli forces.

"We’re deeply concerned about the safety of patients and health personnel due to the intensifying hostilities in the vicinity of the hospital. We repeat: health MUST be protected at all times," WHO head Tedros Ghebreyesus said on X, reiterating his call for a cease-fire.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing at least 28,473 people and injuring 68,146 others. Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the initial Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara