Israel-Hamas war: Gaza hospital blast kills 500, garners widespread condemnation; blame game ensues

A blast killed hundreds of people at a hospital in Gaza, garnering global condemnation. A Gaza civil defence chief has claimed that 300 people have died in the air strike, while Gaza’s health ministry puts the figure at 500. Rescue workers are still working to recover bodies from the rubble. While Gaza said that an Israeli air strike caused the blast, Israeli military blamed it on a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. 

While Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “barbaric terrorists” in Gaza and not Israel military attacked the hospital, Palestinian health minister Mai Alkaila accused Israel of massacre at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital. "The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF. Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children,” said Netanyahu. 

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters that rockets fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group passed by the hospital at the time of the strike. Another spokesperson said that the Israeli military intercepted a conversation that acknowledged a misfire.  Iran-backed Islamic Jihad that took part in Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, denied the involvement of any of its rockets in the blast, and said that they did not have any activity in or around Gaza at that time. 

The death toll from the Gaza hospital blast was the highest of any single incident in Gaza in the ongoing conflict. Protests erupted in West Bank, Istanbul and Amman over the hospital blast. 

The Gaza hospital blast took place just ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel to show its support to the country in its war against Hamas. Biden said he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion” at the hospital and the subsequent loss of life. “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,” said Biden. 

The US aims to keep the conflict from spreading. Biden will meet Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is expected to ask tough questions “as a friend”. Meanwhile, Jordan cancelled a planned summit with Biden, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Abbas also canceled plans to meet Biden after the hospital blast.

The World Health Organisation said that the attack on the Gaza hospital was “unprecedented in scale”. Russia, on the other hand, proposed adding condemnation of the strike to the Brazilian-drafted resolution on which the UN Security Council is to vote on Wednesday. 

"Syria holds Western countries responsible especially the United States of America, for this massacre and others, since they are a partner of the Zionist entity across all organised operations designed to kill Palestinians,” read the statement by the Syrian presidency. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemning the Gaza hospital blast said, “I call on all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza."

Canada, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar also condemned the strike on the Gaza hospital.

(With Reuters inputs)

Also read: Israel-Hamas war: US President Joe Biden leaves for Israel, says 'outraged' by Gaza hospital blast

Also read: Hamas says it will release all civilian hostages if Israel stops bombing Gaza: Report

Also read: Israel-Hamas War: Father uses Apple Watch to track his daughter but finds her dead