The director of Al Shifa hospital was on duty Saturday marshalling the facility's response to Israel's assault on Gaza City when two victims killed in a strike were delivered to the ward: his brother and his sister-in-law.

"I was shocked and devastated to see the bodies of my brother and his wife," said Mohammed Abu Salmiya, who was working in the emergency department of the territory's main hospital at the time.

"Anything is possible now, as you receive your dearest ones as martyrs or wounded," he told AFP. "The occupation's crimes continue, and the number of martyrs keeps rising."

As Israel presses its new offensive to capture the territory's largest urban centre -- despite widespread fears for the safety of both its residents and the hostages being held by militants -- Salmiya was not the only one dealing with loss.

An AFP journalist saw ambulances with sirens blaring pull into the hospital compound early Saturday, bringing more bodies of people killed by Israel's bombardment of Gaza City.

Medics unloaded four bodies wrapped in white shrouds and laid them........

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