Hundreds of people are reported to have died in an airstrike on a hospital in Gaza City on the eve of Joe Biden’s arrival on a trip that was intended to fend off the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and prevent the confl ict escalating into a regional war.
The Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, claimed that more than 500 people had been killed in an Israeli attack on al-Ahli hospital . If confi rmed, the attack would be the most deadly single bombing of all the fi ve wars Israel and Hamas have fought over Gaza. An offi cial from the Gaza civil defen ce said that more than 300 people had been killed in the airstrike.
The Israeli military reportedly said that initial investigation had suggest ed the explosion was caused by a failed Hamas rocket launch.
Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, international spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces, told CNN: “We did not strike that hospital. We do not intentionally strike any sensitive facilities, and defi nitely not hospitals. We are very much aware of the presence of civilians.”
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, declared three days of mourning, saying: “What is taking place is genocide. We call on the international community to intervene immediately to stop this massacre. Silence is no longer acceptable.”
The strike on the hospital throws a dark shadow over Joe Biden’s visit today, which was already the most critical foreign trip of the US president’s tenure so far. He is seeking to show US solidarity with Israel after the 7 October Hamas attack – which killed more than 1,300 Israelis – in the hope of deterring intervention from the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia from across the border with Lebanon.
This story is from the October 18, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the October 18, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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