Israeli airstrikes targeted the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night, killing hundreds and wounding many more, Middle East Eye reported.
Reports say at least 500 people were killed, mainly women and children. For their part, the Israeli military is claiming the blast was the result of a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to The Times of Israel. But PIJ or Hamas rockets have never caused such a devastating blast, and Israel has a history of blaming groups in Gaza for civilian casualties caused by Israeli strikes.
Ahli Arab Hospital, which is the only Christian hospital in Gaza, was packed with Palestinians wounded in other strikes and people seeking refuge from the constant Israeli bombardment. If the numbers are confirmed, it would mark the single deadliest Israeli airstrike that’s ever hit the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, a non-profit that raises funds for Ahli Arab, the hospital is the oldest in Gaza. AFEDJ said in a press release that “Ahli Arab Hospital took a direct airstrike hit on the night of October 17, killing and wounding hundreds of staff, patients, and refugees who were using Ahli as shelter.”
According to the AFEDJ, the hospital was hit by an Israeli attack just a few days earlier. “In a distressing incident on the 14th of October, 2023, Ahli Arab Hospital’s Diagnostic Cancer Treatment Center in Gaza City was struck by Israeli rocket fire,” the AFEDJ said in a press release on October 15.
The bombing has drawn widespread condemnation from regional countries, who are blaming Israel. Jordan’s King Abdullah called the incident a “heinous war crime that cannot be tolerated. Israel must immediately stop its brutal aggression against Gaza, which is inconsistent with humanitarian and moral values and constitutes a flagrant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law.”
President Biden is due to arrive in Israel on Wednesday and has plans to travel to Amman, but Jordan said it has canceled the summit following the hospital bombing. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has also canceled a planned meeting with Biden.
Later in the day, President Biden released a statement on the hospital bombing and did not attribute blame. Biden said he spoke with King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and directed his “national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said striking a hospital “where there are women, children, and innocent civilians is the latest example of Israel’s attacks devoid of fundamental human values.”
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes also pounded southern Gaza on Tuesday, where Israel told Palestinians in the north to evacuate to. According to AP, the airstrikes in the south killed dozens of civilians and one senior Hamas leader.
Source: AntiWar.
