Heavy fighting rages near main Gaza hospital as Netanyahu dismisses calls for cease-fire

By NAJIB JOBAIN and SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes pounded Gaza City overnight as ground forces battled Hamas militants near the territory’s largest hospital. The heavy fighting into Sunday came as health officials said thousands of medics, patients and displaced people are trapped in Shifa Hospital with no electricity and dwindling supplies. In a televised address late Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected growing international calls for a cease-fire unless it includes the release of all 239 hostages captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 rampage that triggered the war. Israel has come under mounting international pressure, even from its closest ally, the United States, as the war enters a sixth week.