Health and military officials said on Saturday that Israeli forces carried out arrests in the largest operating hospital in Gaza, as airstrikes hit the sector and rain fell on Palestinians who had fled to Rafah.

Israeli forces raided Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Thursday as part of their ongoing war against Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that governs the sector.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qidra, said that the occupation forces arrested a large number of medical staff inside the Nasser Medical Complex and turned it into a military base.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it was pursuing militants in the Nasser complex, and confirmed that so far 100 suspects have been arrested in the building, militants near the hospital were killed, and weapons were found inside it.

Hamas denied allegations that its fighters use medical facilities for shelter. At least two of the released Israeli hostages said they were held in Nasser.

The Israeli incursion into the hospital raised concerns about patients, medical workers, and displaced Palestinians sheltering there.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that about 10,000 people sought refuge in the hospital earlier this week but many left either in anticipation of the Israeli raid or due to Israeli evacuation orders.

Nur Abu Jamaj was among the thousands who sought refuge in Nasser Camp and were forced to leave last week. Jamaj said, "Shooting and shelling came from all directions, even from around the hospital." "When we left at night, there were bodies in the streets, and even tanks moved over them and crushed them."

The G7 calls for "urgent action" regarding Rafah

To the south in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people live, the winter cold increased already harsh conditions after winds destroyed some displaced people's tents and rain flooded others.

Israeli plans to storm Rafah have raised international concern, including that of G7 foreign ministers meeting in Munich on Saturday, that such a move would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

According to a statement issued by Italy, "The G7 ministers called for urgent measures to address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza, especially the plight of 1.5 million civilians who have fled to Rafah, and expressed deep concern about the potentially devastating consequences on the civilian population as a result of the large-scale Israeli military operation in this area of the sector."

Italy currently chairs the G7 group, which includes Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.

Meanwhile, leaders participating in the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Saturday condemned the Israeli attack on Gaza and called for its immediate end.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, said the Israeli attack is the "most blatant" violation of international humanitarian law and accused Israel of "genocide" against Gaza's population. He spoke alongside Mohammed Shtayyeh, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, who also addressed the summit.

A statement issued by the head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, on Saturday held Israel responsible for the lack of progress in reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Haniyeh added that Hamas will not accept anything less than a complete cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, "lifting the unjust siege", and the release of Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israeli prisons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to achieve a "complete victory" over Hamas but added on Wednesday that flexibility in the group's stance could advance negotiations to reach an agreement leading to the release of hostages.

The Israeli air and land attack has destroyed a large part of Gaza and forced almost all of the sector's residents to leave their homes, with Palestinian health authorities saying 28,858 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.

The war began when Hamas sent fighters into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and holding 253 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.

Health officials said at least 83 people have been killed in airstrikes across Gaza since Friday, including one person on Saturday in Rafah, an area on the border with Egypt that Israel says is Hamas's last stronghold.

The Israeli army said its aircraft killed a large number of militants in fighting in Gaza since Friday.

Across the border, air raid sirens sounded in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Saturday, warning of incoming rockets.