Suspected Israeli air strikes on a hospital compound in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday left no fewer than 200 people dead, officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said on Tuesday, sparking widespread condemnation and fury in the international press.
But Israel’s army blamed a rocket misfired by militants in Gaza.
Al Jazeera footage from the scene which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York on Wednesday showed medics and civilians recovering bodies with white bags or blankets. Bloodstains and multiple torched cars were visible in the dark hospital courtyard.
The attack occurred only hours before US President Joe Biden was scheduled to go to the Middle East in order to find a balance between supporting Israel while preventing the violence from spreading to other parts of the region.
Since Hamas’ catastrophic attack on Israel on October 7, thousands of people have died on both sides, with the average Palestinian suffering horrendous losses as a result of retaliatory airstrikes and a siege of Gaza.
In an escalation in tensions, the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said between 200 and 300 people displaced by 10 days of heavy bombardment were killed in “occupation (Israeli) strikes” at the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza.
“Hundreds of victims are still under the rubble,” a statement said, calling it a “war crime”, and prompting condemnation from the World Health Organization.
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Hospitals and their grounds have been seen as safe havens for Gazans made homeless or displaced by the bombing, as they have been relatively spared from strikes.
Numerous demonstrators angry about the Gaza strike attempted to storm the Israeli embassy in Amman, the capital of Jordan.
Along with Qatar, Jordan was one of several Arab and Muslim nations that denounced the hospital strike.
Separately, a UN organisation that aids Palestinian refugees reported that an Israeli airstrike on one of its schools housing displaced families resulted in the deaths of six people.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Biden’s trip will come 12 days after the Palestinian militants of Hamas — under cover of a rocket barrage — burst through Israel’s heavily fortified Gaza border, shooting, mutilating and burning more than 1,400 people.
Shell-shocked Israel has responded with withering air strikes against targets in Gaza, leaving about 3,000 Gazans dead, according to a toll from the health ministry in Gaza before the Ahli Arab strike.
Israel has also imposed a crippling siege on the impoverished territory and deployed tens of thousands of troops on the border with Gaza in preparation for a full-scale ground offensive.
It has vowed to destroy Hamas while also seeking to rescue the at least 199 hostages taken into Gaza by Hamas, which has released a video of one of the captives, French-Israeli woman Mia Shem.
Her mother, Keren Shem, made an emotional plea for her safe return. “I am begging the world to bring my baby back home,” she told a new conference in Tel Aviv.
Diplomatic bids to free the hostages have gathered pace. Turkey said it was in talks with Hamas to secure their release.
But there were mixed views about how effective Biden could be, with some Palestinians blaming the United States for backing Israel, and even Israelis sceptical.