The 12, including wounded patients and their companions, "were killed and dozens wounded as a result of the Israeli occupation targeting the Indonesian Hospital", said ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.

Around 700 people remain at the hospital where they are being "besieged" by Israeli forces, Qudra said.

The Israeli occupation army previously ordered residents of northern Gaza to flee southwards and said it was "expanding its operational activities".

Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of launching a "war against hospitals", with scores of strikes on and near medical facilities and military invasion in recent weeks.

Israel claims that the Palestinian resitance group has built underground infrastructure below hospitals for military usage, which Hamas and medical officials deny.

Despite Israel's assertions, no evidence has substantiated these claims. Even after the invasion of Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, which Tel Aviv had, for weeks, claimed housed a Hamas command center, Israeli authorities have failed to provide proof supporting their allegations.

Al-Shifa was described Sunday as a "death zone" by the World Health Organization, in the wake of incursions by Israeli soldiers and multiple strikes on the facility.

More than 250 patients and 20 healthcare workers remain at the hospital, WHO said after 31 premature babies were evacuated southwards by the UN. 

The United Nations estimated 2,300 patients, staff and displaced Palestinians were sheltering at Al-Shifa before Israeli troops moved in.

he United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA has reported the "collapse of services" at hospitals across northern Gaza, following widespread strikes and the lack of fuel and medical supplies.