Terrible news as a Gaza hospital was bombed on October 17th. The hospital named Al-Ahli al-Arabi was the target of a vicious missile strike on Tuesday. Gaza’s health ministry official claimed that an Israeli air assault on a hospital in the Palestinian territory on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, but Israel claimed that a Palestinian barrage was to blame for the explosion.
During the recent violence in Gaza, the death toll was by far the largest of any single incident. As a result, protests were started in the occupied West Bank, Istanbul, and Amman.
Mai Alkaila, the minister of health for the Palestinian Authority, charged Israel with carrying out “a massacre” at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital. Hundreds of civilians were murdered in the attack, which took place during Israel’s brutal 11-day bombardment of Gaza.
In contrast to Israel’s soldiers, the hospital was assaulted by “barbaric terrorists” in Gaza, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ashraf Al-Qudra, the health ministry’s spokesperson, said early on Wednesday that hundreds had died and that rescuers were still pulling remains out of the wreckage. A Gaza civil defense chief first reported 300 fatalities following the explosion, while health ministry sources later estimated 500 fatalities.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, informed reporters that at the time of the attack, rockets fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group passed by the hospital and struck its parking lot.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, another spokesman, told CNN that the military had overheard insurgents admitting to a misfire. He promised to provide a recording of the conversation with the military.
Islamic Jihad denied that any of its missiles were responsible for the hospital explosion and claimed that at the time, it had no presence in or around Gaza City. Islamic Jihad, which is supported by Iran, participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that was spearheaded by Hamas and has launched countless rocket salvos into Israel.
On the eve of U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, news of the hospital strike and high death toll provoked outrage from several nations. Conflicts broke out in the West Bank after Russia and the United Arab Emirates demanded a U.N. Security Council meeting.
Islamic Jihad asserted that it had no presence at the time in or near Gaza City and denied that any of its rockets were to blame for the hospital incident. Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad has fired several rocket salvos into Israel and took part in the onslaught on Israel on October 7 that was led by Hamas.
News of the hospital strike and high death toll sparked indignation in a number of countries on the eve of U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden’s visit to Israel. After Russia and the United Arab Emirates demanded a U.N. Security Council meeting, conflicts erupted in the West Bank.
Around the time of the hospital explosion, he claimed, the military had an Israeli air force operation in the region, “but it was with a different kind of ammunition that does not fit the footage that we have (of) the hospital.”
Hagari stated on the death toll, “I don’t even know how many individuals were hit here. Nobody is able to confirm it yet.
Who is to blame?
As both parties are blaming each other for the bombing, many are wondering who is to blame. Video evidence was released where an Israeli jet was seen in the air at the time of the bombing. Jackson Hinkle posted the video on his Twitter as proof that Israel indeed bombed the hospital.
Again, watching the same video, many people are saying that Hamas missiles caused the explosion due to malfunction. Some say the Israeli Iron Dome rerouted the missiles, and that hit the hospital, while others argue that Hamas doesn’t have that kind of powerful bomb.
No matter which side caused this explosion, the fact is hundreds of innocent people were the victims. Many of those casualties were children. In the following tweet, a Palestinian man was seen mourning for the loss of his children’s lives.
Israeli Telegram channel celebrating the bombing of the Gaza hospital
A popular Israeli Telegram channel was seen to celebrate the bombing of the Gaza hospital. The channel has 85,000+ subscribers and doesn’t seem to care about the hundreds of lives that were lost.
“They (ISRAEL) are responsible for that crime” – Riyad Mansour
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Envoy to the UN, called Netanyahu a liar. He said that the spokesperson and digital spokesperson of Netanyahu tweeted that Israel bombed the hospital, suspecting the presence of a Hamas base. Later on, they removed the tweet, but copies of that tweet were made.
The tweet made by Hananya Naftali was later presented as proof. He later removed the tweet and added another tweet apologizing for the misinformation.
Riyad Mansour also mentioned that the Israeli military spokesperson said to evacuate the hospitals because the hospitals were their targets as well. Mansour also reminded everyone that Israel bombed a hospital just a week ago, so this isn’t something new.
The Israeli military has been targeting residential areas for the past few days and has committed several international war crimes, including the use of white phosphorus bombs against civilians. Although Israeli authorities deny all the acquisitions, they have used phosphorus bombs previously.
More attacks on hospitals
With the continuous attacks on Gaza, Palestinian civilians have gathered around schools and hospitals to seek shelter. Israel commanded everyone last week to leave their houses and travel south from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, which is barely 45 km (25 miles) long and home to 2.3 million people.
However, amid predictions of an Israeli ground offensive, some fleeing civilians have begun to return north as the airstrikes have hit targets all throughout the enclave.
The attack on the hospital was deemed “unprecedented in its scale” by the World Health Organization. It stated that the majority of Gaza’s hospitals were not operating and that there had been 115 attacks on medical institutions on Tuesday.
Since the Hamas attack, Israel has severed all supplies of power, water, food, gasoline, and medication to Gaza, tightening the enclave’s already-existing embargo.
Canada, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, and Qatar were among the nations that denounced the hospital strike.