Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says it exposed Hamas tunnel under Shifa Hospital

Seventy percent of the population in southern Gaza had no access to clean water as of Wednesday, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, told Al Jazeera.

He said raw sewage is "starting to flow in the streets," and if fuel isn't brought into Gaza soon, he warned, "We run the risk to have to suspend the entire humanitarian operation."

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Dr. Sara Al Saqqa, a surgeon at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, fled the hospital complex several days ago "because everything was pretty horrific and terrifying," she told ABC News.

She said most of her colleagues and patients evacuated the hospital, where Israeli troops are carrying out a dayslong raid, but she said nearly 100 doctors remain there, along with more than 700 patients and thousands of people seeking refuge.

"The situation now is a disaster at Al-Shifa," she said. "Israeli occupational forces have invaded Shifa Hospital with their tanks and destroyed most of the medical equipment there. … They shot a lot of people and they arrested more."

The Israeli army alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians -- claims that the militant group denies.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. has intelligence that Hamas has used Gaza's hospitals, including Al-Shifa, to support its military operations and hold hostages.

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The IDF's operations at the hospital are ongoing Thursday.

The Israelis said that they found explosives inside the medical complex, but Al Saqqa said the Israelis "didn't find the things that they are looking for because there is no military activity inside the hospital. And this is something that's obvious to all of us, the ones working there for several years."

The Palestinian Telecommunications Group said Thursday that "all telecom services in Gaza Strip have gone out of service as all energy sources sustaining the network have been depleted, and fuel was not allowed in."

The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that its "soldiers struck a terrorist cell in Lebanon that attempted to launch anti-tank missiles toward Israeli territory."

"In addition, terrorists attempted to carry out a number of launches toward the area of ​​Misgav Am in northern Israel, as well as IDF posts in the areas of Metula and Yiftah," the IDF said in a statement. "No injuries were reported."

"In response, IDF soldiers are striking with artillery fire toward the sources of the launches," the IDF added.

In recent weeks, there have been continued exchanges between Israeli forces and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Although the clashes remain within the notional 10-kilometer corridor along the shared border, they are now a daily occurrence and have intensified in recent days, which raises the potential for escalation as each side responds to the other's strikes.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been walking a delicate line with regard to the group's response to the latest outbreak of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. In remarks made a couple weeks ago, Nasrallah effectively distanced himself from Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, saying it was wholly a Palestinian conceived, planned and undertaken operation. At the same time, he has pledged support to the Palestinians in their struggle amid Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip. He also said that Hezbollah had joined the fight against Israeli forces from Oct. 8 with strikes across the border, but ruled out a full-scale war at this time.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has been scrupulously issuing regular statements taking responsibility for strikes on northern Israel and providing precise details.

The types of ordinance used in these cross-border strikes are also ramping up. The Lebanese Armed Forces recently posted on their official Facebook page "general guidelines for avoiding the dangers of phosphorus munitions." Lebanon has repeatedly accused Israel of using incendiary and phosphorus munitions in their attacks.

But Hezbollah's leader made clear in his speech last Saturday that the group does not want a war with Israel right now. Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has indicated the same and has praised the patriotism and restraint of Hezbollah.

For now, there appears to be a slow-burn battle between Israel and Hezbollah but within the 10-kilometer corridor of the border and therefore contained. It's unclear how long that will last.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz, Marcus Moore and Bruno Roeber