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According to Palestinian authorities, at least 500 people were killed in the attack
1 hour ago
A suspected Israeli airstrike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 500 people, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamist group Hamas.
An Israeli army spokesman said the cause of the incident was not known and the military was investigating the details.
If the Palestinian authorities’ statements are confirmed, it would be another in the series of airstrikes Israel has carried out in Gaza in retaliation for the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in which at least 1,300 people were killed by members of the Islamic group.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, at least 4,200 people had been killed in attacks by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Images from Al Ahli Arab Hospital show scenes of chaos bloodied and mutilated victims being taken away on stretchers.
Bodies and destroyed vehicles can be seen in the rubble scattered on the road.
Videos published online, which have not yet been confirmed by the BBC, show a large explosion moments before.
According to local residents, hundreds of injured people sought shelter in a corridor on the hospital grounds.
Civil defense officials say the explosion was the result of an Israeli airstrike and that hundreds of people were trapped in the rubble.
The Hamas government’s media office in Gaza classified the attack on the hospital as a “war crime.”
“The hospital cared for hundreds of sick and injured people, as well as people who were forcibly displaced from their homes,” Hamas said.
The statement said that “hundreds of victims still lie under the rubble.”
World Health Organization (WHO) DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he “strongly condemns” the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital.
He said initial reports suggested hundreds of deaths and injuries at the site.
“We demand immediate protection of civilians and health services and the lifting of evacuation orders,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
AlAhli Hospital is funded by the Anglican Church, and Richard Sewell, principal of St. George’s College one of the church’s leading figures in Jerusalem posted on social media that the hospital was “hit directly by an Israeli attack.” became. Rocket”.
He said hundreds of women and children were killed and called the act a “premeditated murder of vulnerable civilians.”
“The bombs have to stop now. “There is no possible justification for this,” Sewell said.