Gaza’s largest hospital has “ceased to function” after running out of fuel and being surrounded by Israeli troops, with air strikes and gunfire making it impossible for civilians to escape.

Al-Shifa hospital, in the heart of Gaza City, ran out of fuel over the weekend, local officials and the World Health Organization said, risking the lives of patients as fighting raged just outside its doors.

Efforts by the Israel Defense Forces to take control of the site have become a diplomatic flashpoint between Israel and its allies, with the US and EU asking it to show restraint as the scenes at the hospital — including newborn babies being kept warm outside non-functioning incubators — spur support in Arab and some western capitals for a ceasefire to protect Palestinian civilians.