The Israeli military is using Palestinian civilians as human shields during its ongoing military operations inside and around the al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

The Geneva-based organisation says in its latest report it documented several witness testimonies about this since Monday, with Israeli soldiers forcing civilians into dangerous situations.

This includes exploiting Palestinians for military operations inside the hospital, and forcing them to form barriers behind soldiers and military vehicles, according to al Jazeera.

One Palestinian said he and three other young men were ordered to enter rooms inside the hospital after cameras were attached to their heads, and then received remote orders to move around to specific locations.

“Euro-Med Monitor calls on the international community to fulfill its international responsibilities in stopping the genocide being perpetrated against all residents of the Gaza Strip, and to take immediate and serious action to halt all Israeli army crimes committed against civilians and civilian objects protected under international law.”

The armed wing of Hamas says intense ground battles are ongoing near the al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza.

Qassam Brigades said it “destroyed enemy forces” trying to penetrate an area surrounding the health facility using mortar shells.

A rocket hit a group of Israeli soldiers barricaded inside a building in the vicinity of the besieged hospital, killing and wounding an unidentified number of troops, it said.

Fighters used a Yassin-105 anti-tank weapon to target a military vehicle in the area.