DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) Thousands of Palestinians sheltering from the Israel-Hamas war at Gaza Citys main hospital fled south Friday after several reported strikes in and around the compound overnight. They joined a growing exodus of people escaping intense urban fighting in the north including near other hospitals as Gaza officials said the territorys death toll surpassed 11,000.

The search for safety across the besieged Gaza Strip has grown desperate as Israel intensified its assault on the territorys largest city.

The Israeli army says Hamas military infrastructure is based amid Gaza Citys hospitals and neighborhoods, and that it has set up its main command center in and under the largest hospital, Shifa claims the militant group and Shifa staff deny.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its deadly Oct. 7 surprise incursion , which killed at least 1,200.

More than 100,000 Palestinians have fled south over the past two days, according to Israel, but they still face bombardment and dire conditions . Reported strikes on or near at least four hospitals in northern Gaza overnight underscored the danger for tens of thousands more who had crowded into the facilities, believing they would be safe.

BATTLES AROUND HOSPITALS

Early Friday, at least three strikes over several hours hit the courtyard and the obstetrics department of Shifa Hospital, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson at the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

A video of the courtyard recorded the sound of incoming fire waking people in makeshift shelters, followed by shouts for an ambulance. In the blood-spattered courtyard, one man writhed, screaming on the ground, his leg apparently severed.

Al-Qidra blamed the attack on Israel, a claim that could not be independently verified. The Israeli army said one strike at Shifa was the result of a misfire by militants targeting its troops nearby.