Gaza’s health minister spokesman claimed that an Israeli air strike Tuesday killed hundreds at a Palestinian hospital, but Israel said a Palestinian bombardment was responsible for the explosion, Reuters reports.
The death toll in Gaza was the highest in any single incident during the current violence. This sparked protests in the occupied West Bank as well as in Amman, Istanbul, and Amman.
Mai Alkaila (Health Minister of the Palestinian Authority) accused Israel of “a massacre” at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital. The strike, which killed hundreds of people, occurred during Israel’s 11-day intense bombing campaign against Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that “barbaric terrorists”, not Israel’s military, had attacked Gaza’s hospital.
Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for the health ministry, stated early on Wednesday morning that hundreds of people were killed, and that rescue workers are still removing bodies. In the early hours following the blast, Gaza’s civil defence chief reported 300 deaths, while sources from the health ministry put the number at 500.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israeli Military spokesperson, told reporters that rockets fired by militants of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group passed the hospital when the strike occurred. He said the parking lot of the facility was hit by the rockets.
A second spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told CNN that the military intercepted an audio recording in which militants admitted to a misfire. He said that the military would release the recording of the conversation.
Islamic Jihad denied any involvement in the hospital explosion, claiming that it had no activity in or around Gaza City during that time. The Iran-backed Islamic Jihad participated in the Hamas led assault on Israel that took place on October 7, and like Hamas has fired many salvos of rockets at Israel.
Many countries condemned the news of the hospital strike, and the high death toll, just before US President Joe Biden visited Israel. Russia and the United Arab Emirates called for a U.N. Security Council Meeting and clashes broke out in the West Bank.
On Tuesday, the United Nations reported that an Israeli strike had struck one of their schools where at least 4, 000 people were sheltering. The agency reported that six people were killed by the strike and dozens more were injured. Israel’s military confirmed that it was investigating the report.
Hagari, in a briefing to reporters, cast doubt on the Palestinian death counts in the hospital attack and claimed that there was no direct strike on the facility. He said that military drone footage revealed “a kind hit in the parking area.”
Source: Reuters
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