Gaza Hospital Blast Kills at Least 500 People; Hamas and Israel Trade Blame – News18
A massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital Tuesday, killing at least 500 people, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said the hospital was hit by a rocket misfired by Palestinian militants, while Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike.
As reports emerged about the explosion in a hospital packed with wounded and others seeking shelter, Jordan’s foreign minister said his country canceled a regional summit scheduled for Wednesday in Amman, where US President Joe Biden was to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
‘I am outraged’
Biden, who was heading to the Mideast in hopes of stopping the war from spreading, said he was “outraged” by a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital and had told security advisors to gather more details. “I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted,” Biden said in a statement as he headed on a visit to Israel.
Biden said he had spoken to Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “immediately upon hearing this news.” “The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy,” Biden said.
The war between Israel and Hamas was “pushing the region to the brink,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told state-run television. He said Jordan would host the summit only when everyone had agreed its purpose would be to “stop the war, respect the humanity of the Palestinians and deliver the aid they deserve.” Biden will now visit only Israel, a White House official said.
The explosion reportedly left gruesome scenes. This comes as the US has been trying to convince Israel to allow the delivery of supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals in the tiny Gaza Strip, which has been under a complete siege since Hamas’ deadly rampage in southern Israel last week. Hospitals were on the verge of losing electricity, while hundreds of thousands of increasingly desperate people searched for bread and water.
Trade of Blame
Hamas called the hospital blast “a horrific massacre,” saying it was caused by an Israeli strike. The Israeli military blamed Islamic Jihad, a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often cooperates with Hamas in their shared struggle against Israel. The military said Islamic Jihad militants had fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital at the time and that “intelligence from multiple sources” indicated it was “responsible for the failed rocket launch that hit the hospital.”
In a briefing with reporters, the chief army spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the army determined there were no air force, ground or naval attacks in the area at the time of the blast, just before 7 p.m. He said radars detected outgoing rocket fire at the same moment, and intercepted communications between militant groups indicated that Islamic Jihad fired the rockets.
Hagari also shared aerial footage collected by a military drone that he said showed a blast that was inconsistent with Israeli weaponry, with the explosion occurring in the parking lot outside the building. The army planned to soon make its evidence public, including surveillance footage and recordings of the intercepted communications. Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in al-Ahli and other hospitals in Gaza City in past days, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.
Ambulances and private cars rushed some 350 casualties from the al-Ahli blast to Gaza City’s main hospital, al-Shifa, which was already overwhelmed with wounded from other strikes, said its director, Mohammed Abu Selmia. The wounded were laid onto bloody floors, screaming in pain. “We are squeezing five beds into a single tiny room. We need equipment, we need medicine, we need beds, we need anesthesia, we need everything,” Abu Selmia said, warning that the fuel supply for the hospital’s generators will run out Wednesday. “I think Gaza’s medical sector will collapse within hours.”
The heavy toll of war
Before the al-Alhi Hospital deaths, Israeli strikes on Gaza killed at least 2,778 people and wounded 9,700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Nearly two-thirds of those killed were children, a ministry official said. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said. Hamas’ Oct. 7, attack in southern Israel killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took some 200 captives into Gaza. Hamas militants in Gaza have launched rockets every day since, aiming at cities across Israel.
With tens of thousands of troops massed along the border, Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza, but its plans remained uncertain. “We are preparing for the next stages of war,” military spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said. “We haven’t said what they will be. Everybody’s talking about a ground offensive. It might be something different.”
(With AP inputs)
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