Fleeing Palestinians describe Israeli raid on Gaza Strip hospital

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/PA)

Palestinians who fled during an ongoing Israeli raid in and around the Gaza Strip’s main hospital have described days of heavy fighting, mass arrests and forced marches past dead bodies.

The Israeli military says it has killed more than 170 militants and detained some 480 suspects in the raid on Shifa Hospital that began last Monday, portraying it as a heavy blow to Hamas and other armed groups that it says had regrouped in the medical compound.