GAZA CITY, Palestine 

The Israeli army has slapped a siege around the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry in the enclave said Monday.

“The lives of patients at the hospital are at risk,” the ministry warned in a statement.

Hospital Director Ahmad al-Kahlout said Israeli forces stationed near the facility in Beit Lahia city “target anyone trying to enter the hospital.”

“The Israeli army surrounded the hospital with tanks and firepower, and is targeting all roads leading to the facility,” Kahlout told Anadolu.

According to Kahlout, two women and two children were killed in an Israeli attack targeting the hospital's maternity ward.

Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip on Dec. 1 after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 18,205 Palestinians have been killed and more than 49,645 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar