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Gaza’s health ministry said on Tuesday that hundreds of people had been killed after an explosion in an outdoor area attached to a hospital in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The ministry, which is run by the Islamist militant group Hamas, said at least 200 people had been killed in an Israeli strike on Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City. The number of deaths and the cause of the blast could not be independently verified.
The explosion came as US president Joe Biden was due to arrive in Israel on Wednesday in a bid to show solidarity with the Jewish state and influence the conduct of the war against Hamas.
The Palestine Red Crescent, a humanitarian organisation, said “hundreds” of people had been killed at the hospital.
Ghassan Abu Sitta, a Palestinian-British surgeon, posted on social media: “I moved to Al Ahli hospital to help out. The Israelis have just hit Al Ahli hospital.”
But the Israel Defense Forces said that intelligence indicated that a flawed rocket launched by Islamic Jihad, an Islamist militant group also based in Gaza, was responsible.
“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza,” added the IDF.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The whole world should know: the barbaric terrorists in Gaza are the ones who attacked the hospital in Gaza, not the IDF.”
Speaking from Jerusalem, Reverend Fadi Biab, vice-chair of the hospital’s board, said it was assessing the number of casualties, adding he could not currently confirm the number.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said: “[The] WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al-Ahli Arab hospital in north Gaza. Early reports indicate hundreds of deaths and injuries. We call for the immediate protection of civilians and healthcare.”
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, has decreed three days of mourning for the victims, according to the official Palestinian news agency.
The authority said in a statement that Abbas had cut short a visit to Jordan and was returning to Ramallah.
Abbas was due to see Biden on Wednesday at a summit in Amman also involving Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Russia’s UN mission said it and the United Arab Emirates had requested an extraordinary UN Security Council meeting to discuss the blast at the hospital, according to state newswire Tass.
Thousands of Palestinians have been taking refuge in hospitals in Gaza believing they would be safe from Israel’s bombardment of the enclave.
Gaza has been targeted by intense Israeli air and artillery strikes for more than a week.
Dozens were killed in air strikes in the southern towns of Rafah and Khan Younis on Tuesday and scores more injured, according to Palestinian officials.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled to the south of the enclave after Israel last week ordered them to leave the north, including Gaza City.
The Israeli military says it is targeting Hamas militants, whom it accuses of hiding around hospitals and schools and using civilians as “human shields”.
The bombardment began after Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis, according to Israeli officials, while nearly 200 hostages were taken.
The Israeli strikes have since killed more than 3,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.
The UN said on Tuesday that at least six people had been killed when one of its schools in the middle of the territory sheltering 4,000 displaced Palestinians was hit during Israeli air strikes.
It added that dozens more had been injured, including some of its staff in a school in the al-Maghazi refugee camp.
“This is outrageous and it again shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians,” said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general for UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees. “No place is safe in Gaza anymore, not even UNRWA facilities.”
The UN has warned of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Drinking water is scarce, mains power is not available and supplies of fuel, medicines and food are running out. UNRWA said “people will start dying” because of the water shortages.
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