Israel, Hamas trade blame after Gaza hospital blast kills 500; protests erupt

NEW DELHI,OCTO 18 : At least 500 people, many of them women and children, were killed in a massive blast at a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike for causing the blast, while the Israeli Defence Force claimed that a rocket misfired by a Palestinian militant group hit the hospital. The attack occurred on the eve of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Tel Aviv to express solidarity with Israel.

Biden will arrive in Israel today amid an intensifying war situation following the blast at a hospital in Gaza that killed at least 500 people. During his wartime visit, Biden will “reaffirm solidarity” with Israel. Meanwhile, Jordan cancelled a regional summit it was to host, over the Gaza hospital attack.

En route to Tel Aviv, the US President spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he was also briefed by his national security team “following reports of the terrible loss of life” in the hospital attack, as confirmed by the White House.

Jordan’s foreign minister announced the cancellation of a regional summit with Biden, scheduled for Wednesday in Amman, in response to the hospital attack. The US president was supposed to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

The blast at the hospital in Gaza City occurred on Tuesday night, resulting in the death of at least 500 people and numerous injuries. While Hamas claimed that the blast was caused by an Israeli airstrike, Tel Aviv blamed a Palestinian terrorist group for it.

Biden expressed ‘outrage’ over the Gaza hospital attack and directed his country’s investigative agency team to probe the incident.

US President Joe Biden will arrive in Israel later today to discuss the war situation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The White House has stated that the visit, occurring “at a critical moment for Israel, the region, and the world,” is intended to “reaffirm solidarity” with Israel, which is currently at war with Hamas.

Top US officials said Biden will ask “tough questions” to Netanyahu and Israeli leaders. He want to get a sense from the Israelis about their objectives in the days ahead, White House added.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has claimed that the deadly blast at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City was caused by a missile misfire by the Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad. The IDF has rejected Hamas’s claims that an Israeli air raid led to the blast, which resulted in the deaths of at least 500 people. The army has stated that they will release footage of the missile misfire. Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad has denied Tel Aviv’s charges.

After visiting Israel, Biden was scheduled to travel to Amman for a regional meeting with Arab leaders. However, the meeting has been cancelled in the wake of the attack on the Gaza hospital. Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, who blamed Israel for “pushing the region to the brink,” announced that the summit would be postponed to a time when the “parties could agree to end the war and the massacres against Palestinians”.

Meanwhile, the White House said Biden decided to postpone his travel to Jordan after consulting with King Abdullah II of Jordan and in light of the days of mourning announced by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “The President (Biden) sent his deepest condolences for the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza, and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded. He looks forward to consulting in person with these leaders soon, and agreed to remain regularly and directly engaged with each of them over the coming days,” a White House official said.

Biden said he was “outraged” by the explosion at a Gaza hospital and said he had directed his national security team to gather information about exactly what had happened.

“I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted. The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict, and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy,” the US President’s statement said.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified by the killing of hundreds of civilians” following a strike on a hospital in Gaza. Guterres strongly condemned the strike, adding that his “heart is with the families of those who died”.

The UN human rights chief Volker T¼rk also described the strike on the hospital as “totally unacceptable”. “We don’t yet know the full scale of this carnage but what is clear is that the violence and killings must stop at once,” Turk said in a statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the air strike on Gaza hospital “horrific and absolutely unacceptable.” He said, “I’m horrified by the loss of life at Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza. My thoughts are with those who lost loved ones. It is imperative that innocent civilians be protected and international law upheld. Together, we must determine what happened. There must be accountability.”

After the hospital blast, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, cancelled his participation in a meeting scheduled for today with Joe Biden and other Middle East leaders. Abbas was withdrawing to “protest an alleged Israeli airstrike” on the hospital, his office announced before Jordan cancelled the summit.

“The president is very angry after the news of the Israeli massacre at the hospital in Gaza, and he decided to immediately return to Ramallah,” an official of the Palestinian Authority said.

A large number of protesters gathered at the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, to protest against the massive blast at a hospital in Gaza City. The protesters stormed the US embassy as US President Joe Biden travelled to Israel to “show solidarity”. The demonstrators clashed with police, who deployed tear gas to disperse the crowd.

The Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, Hezbollah, had called for a “day of rage” in response to the hospital blast, blaming Israel for what it calls a “massacre.”

Several trucks carrying aid to Gaza, including those of UN agencies, are still stuck at the Egypt border as the Rafah border remains closed, while the humanitarian situation inside Gaza worsens. Egyptian authorities said they are negotiating with Israel on the issue to facilitate the delivery through Rafah and Kerem Shalom points. An official told The Associated Press that Israel is searching all aid deliveries and wants to “ensure that such aid won’t benefit Hamas.”

The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote on a Brazilian-drafted resolution calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas war. The resolution aims to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip, which is facing severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. A Russian-drafted resolution with the same demand failed to pass in the Security Council two days ago.

Air raids and cross-border attacks have continued along the border between Lebanon and Israel as well. As per the latest update by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to Tel Aviv, the army has targeted infrastructure and an observation post belonging to Hezbollah, in response to the firing of anti-tank missiles at Israeli territory and other incidents in the border area on Tuesday.

-PTI