‘In the circle of death’: Gaza doctors say patients are under siege in al-Shifa

Staff say they fear rising numbers of deaths at hospital on third day without power, and with shooting and bombing outside

Dozens of corpses lay on the courtyard outside Gaza's largest hospital, covering the ground next to a blue refrigerated truck that had long ceased to be able to keep the bodies cool. Most of the bodies were shrouded in colourful blankets originally meant for the living, after the hospital ran out of white bodybags. A severely burnt arm protruded from one of the blankets. Elsewhere, according to video footage seen by the Guardian, the charred body of a child was visible among the soft folds of the material.

We are under siege," said Munir al-Boursh, a doctor who is also a Palestinian health ministry undersecretary, speaking from inside Dar al-Shifa hospital. The hospital had intended to dig a mass grave, until Israeli tanks and snipers encircled the the complex on Friday, making movement around it impossible.