An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday killed hundreds of Palestinians at a hospital in the city of Loop crowded with patients and displaced people, reported the health authorities of the enclave.
The attack was the bloodiest since Israel began a relentless bombing campaign against Gaza in retaliation for a devastating Hamas assault on communities in southern Israel on October 7.
The bombing comes on the eve of a visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel to show his support for the country in its war against Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
Arab countries, Iran and Türkiye quickly condemned the attack. The Palestinian prime minister called him “horrible crime, genocide” and said that countries that support Israel are also responsible.
A civil defense chief in Hamas-ruled Gaza told Al Jazeera television that more than 300 people had died at the Al Ahli al Arabi hospital. A Gaza Health Ministry official said at least 500 people had been killed or injured.
Hamas said the explosion at the hospital killed mostly displaced people. Among the victims were patients, women and children.
“There are dozens of dismembered and crushed corpses, bloodbaths”said Izzat El-Reshiq, a senior Hamas official.
The Israeli military said rockets fired by Islamic Jihad were responsible for the bombing of the hospital.
The Palestinian presidency in the West Bank declared three days of mourning in the Palestinian territories in honor of the victims.
Media reports indicated that after the attack, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended a planned meeting with US President Joe Biden, who announced a trip to the region.
Earlier, the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) said an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday had killed at least six people at one of its schools that had been operating as a shelter for displaced people.
Gaza health authorities say at least 3,000 people have been killed in the 11 days of Israeli bombing since Hamas militants stormed Israeli cities and kibbutzim on October 7, killing more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians. .
Israel has devastated parts of densely urbanized Gaza with airstrikes, expelled about half of Gazans from their homes and imposed a total blockade on the enclave, preventing the supply of food, fuel and medicine.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
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