Live updates | Israeli tanks enter Gaza's Shifa Hospital compound

Two and a half weeks after sending tanks and ground troops into northern Gaza, Israeli forces entered a hospital early Wednesday that they claim Hamas operates out of. Mohammed Zaqout, the director of hospitals in Gaza, said Israeli tanks were inside the medical compound and that soldiers had entered buildings, including the emergency and surgery departments, which house intensive care units.

Shifa Hospital has become a symbol of the widespread suffering of Palestinian civilians during the war between Israel and Hamas, which erupted after the militant group killed some 1,200 people and seized around 240 captives in a surprise October 7 attack into southern Israel.

The Israeli army claims the militant group uses hospitals as cover for its fighters, and has set up its main command centre in and beneath Shifa Hospital, the largest in the besieged territory. Both Hamas and Shifa Hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations.

More than 11,200 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and minors — have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.

Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war: IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH PEACEMAKING GROUP GENEVA — Iran's foreign minister has traveled to Geneva for a previously undisclosed meeting hosted by a leading humanitarian group that works to strike peace agreements.

Hossein Amirabdollahian spoke with the UN's top humanitarian aid official, Martin Griffiths, in a meeting at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, which made headlines five years ago for its role in an accord in which the Basque separatist group ETA agreed to dissolve after a decades-long campaign in Spain, officials said.

The centre said in a message sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday that it “routinely convenes closed-door consultations to support conflict mediation and resolution in various parts of the world.

“In the latest of these consultations, HD hosted a senior Iranian delegation and other invited guests for a discussion about Gaza focused on ways to alleviate human suffering, increase humanitarian assistance and reduce risks of escalation in the region,” the statement said.

The centre's website says it has been working on conflicts around the world and “brings all parties together to find the path to peace.” The Israeli ambassador in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, posted on X, formerly called Twitter, that: “Israel expresses its indignation that the foreign minister of Iran is in Geneva and meeting with UN officials and NGOs to talk about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.''' “Iran has no place in the future of Gaza. It is part of the problem, not the solution,” she added.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X that “As part of his consultations in Geneva, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has met with a number of officials of the UN, humanitarian organizations and religious institutions as well as university professors and some ambassadors there regarding the ongoing developments in Palestine and the Zionist regime's aggression against #Gaza.” UN REFUGEE AGENCY CONFIRMS FIRST RECEIPT OF FUEL, SAYS IT NEEDS MUCH MORE CAIRO — The head of UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, confirmed Wednesday that it has received 23,000 litres (6,000 gallons) of fuel that crossed into Gaza via the Rafah crossing, but called for more to be allowed to enter the besieged territory.

The aid group says Israeli authorities allowed the fuel to enter under the restriction that it can only be used to transport aid into besieged Gaza.

“This fuel cannot be used for the overall humanitarian response, including for medical and water facilities or the work of UNRWA,” Philippe Lazzarini said in an online statement.

UNRWA needs 160,000 litres (42,200 gallons) of fuel each day to complete “basic humanitarian operations,” he added.

Israel declared war on Hamas and barred fuel shipments after its attack on Israel on October 7, saying the group would divert the supplies for military use.

Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian affairs, announced early Wednesday that it would allow United Nations trucks to refill at the Rafah crossing on Wednesday. It said the decision was in response to a request from the United States, ISRAELI FORCES ARE STILL OPERATING IN GAZA'S LARGEST HOSPITAL, HEALTH MINISTRY OFFICIAL SAYS CAIRO — A senior official with Gaza's Hamas-controlled Health Ministry says Israeli forces are still operating inside Shifa Hospital, the territory's largest, hours after launching a raid early Wednesday.

Speaking by phone from the hospital, Munir al-Boursh said Israeli soldiers ransacked the basement and other buildings, including those housing the emergency and surgery departments.

“They are still here ... patients, women and children are terrified,” he said. He said doctors vowed to stay with their patients “till the end.” Israel says Hamas has a secret command centre in and under the hospital but has provided no visual evidence. Hamas and the hospital staff deny the allegations.

The military said it was carrying out a “precise and targeted operation against Hamas” in a specific part of the hospital away from patients and medical staff. It said it also delivered medical supplies.

Al-Boursh called for the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to secure a safe corridor for patients, medical staff and displaced families trapped in the facility to leave.

Al-Boursh said an Israeli official spoke with him by phone early Wednesday and asked him to join the forces searching the facility, but he refused.

COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY WARNS OF BLACKOUT BECAUSE OF FUEL SHORTAGE JERUSALEM — The main Palestinian communications company warned Wednesday that Gaza will plunge into a communications blackout in a matter of hours following several short-term outages in recent weeks.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Paltel said dwindling fuel supplies have forced all of its generators in Gaza to shut down and that communications in the territory are now dependent on batteries.

The company warned of a “cessation of all communications services during the next few hours.” Israel allowed the first shipment of fuel to enter the besieged territory on Wednesday, but the UN says the amount allowed in is not enough to aid the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation.