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

While the White House is emphasizing the need to protect civilians in and around Gaza’s hospitals, two administration officials say the U.S. has intelligence supporting Israel’s assessment that Hamas is using Al-Shifa Hospital to shelter a command center under the medical complex, further complicating the situation on the ground.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to weigh in on Hamas’ operations surrounding Al-Shifa specifically, and underscored that regardless of the terror group's activities, hospitals were still serving vital civilian needs and must be safeguarded.

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Gaza’s biggest hospitals stop functioning as conflict escalates

ABC News’ Patrick Reevell talks about the crisis at two of Gaza’s biggest hospitals as the conflict continues to escalate.

ABCNews.com

Miller also stressed that Hamas bore responsibility for the suffering at hospitals.

“We would love to see Hamas vacate the hospitals it's using [as] command posts immediately," he said. "We would love to see Hamas take some of the fuel reserves it's sitting on and use that to supply hospitals in northern Gaza. We would love to see Hamas have taken the fuel that Israel offered it yesterday that they declined for use at Al-Shifa Hospital."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

The U.S. and Israel both "do not want to see firefights in hospitals," national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday as conditions at Gaza's hospitals worsen.

A Doctors Without Borders surgeon working at Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa Hospital, said when an ambulance was sent outside the hospital gate to bring in patients, the ambulance was attacked.

The surgeon said the medical team has only agreed to leave Al-Shifa if patients are evacuated first.

"We want to see patients protected, we want to see hospitals protected. We have spoken with [the] Israeli government about this, and they have said they share that view," Sullivan said.

Sullivan also said the U.S. is continuing to work on getting fuel to hospitals and allowing evacuations from hospitals if they're in danger.

Twenty people, including babies, have died at Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa Hospital, over the last three day, Ashraf Al-Qidra, spokesman for the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Al-Jazeera on Monday.

About 1,500 patients and medical staff as well as about 6,000 to 7,000 displaced people sheltering at the hospital have had no medicine, water or food for days, Al-Qidra said.

Al-Qidra said medical staff have been unable to collect or bury decomposing corpses at the hospital courtyard amid constant gunfire and shelling by Israeli forces.

A Doctors Without Borders surgeon working at Al-Shifa Hospital said when an ambulance was sent outside the hospital gate to bring in patients, the ambulance was attacked.

"The medical team agreed to leave the hospital only if patients are evacuated first. We don’t want to leave our patients," the surgeon told Doctors Without Borders. "We need a guarantee that there is a safe corridor. ... If they give us guarantees and evacuate the patients first, we will evacuate."

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the situation "dire and perilous" on Sunday as he again called for a cease-fire.

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened again on Monday, permitting 559 foreign passport holders as well as Egyptians to cross through to Egypt, a Rafah border crossing official said.

Four injured or sick Palestinians and five of their family members also crossed into Egypt, the official said.