GAZA: An Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed about 500 Palestinians at a Gaza City hospital crammed with patients and displaced people, health authorities in the besieged enclave said.
The strike was the bloodiest single incident in Gaza since Israel launched an unrelenting bombing campaign against the densely populated territory in retaliation for a deadly cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7.
It took place on the eve of a visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel to show support for the country in its war with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
Arab countries, Iran and Turkiye swiftly condemned the attack. The Palestinian prime minister called it “a horrific crime, genocide” and said countries backing Israel also bore responsibility.
Sources at the Gaza Ministry of Health told Reuters that around 500 Palestinians were killed in the air strike on Al-Ahli Al-Arabi hospital.
Hamas said the bombing mostly killed people left homeless by Israel bombardments, and that the dead included patients, women and children.
“There are scores of dismembered and crushed bodies, baths of blood,” said Izzat El-Reshiq, a senior Hamas member.
Video obtained by Reuters showed several full ambulances arriving at another Gaza hospital carrying people injured at Al-Ahli Al-Arabi hospital. One man was staggering, bleeding heavily from the head. A boy was being carried on a stretcher.
The Israeli military said it did not have any details about the reported bombing, but was checking. It has previously accused Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as human shields.
In Washington, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports about the hospital being hit but had no details. The Pentagon, which has sent five C-17 aircraft with military assistance to Israel so far, reiterated that there were no preconditions on the aid being provided and added: “We expect all democracies like Israel to uphold the law of war.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said an Israeli air strike had killed at least six people at one of its schools that has been functioning as a shelter for displaced people.
“This is outrageous and again it shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians,” UNRWA said in a social media post. “No place is safe in Gaza anymore, not even UN facilities.”
Health authorities in Gaza say at least 3,000 people have been killed in Israel’s 11-day bombardment since Hamas militants rampaged into Israeli towns and kibbutzes on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,300 people, mainly civilians.
Israel has flattened parts of heavily urbanized Gaza with air strikes, driven around half of its 2.3 million population from their homes and imposed a total blockade on the enclave, halting food, fuel and medical supplies.
Amid the death and destruction, the humanitarian crisis in the enclave worsened as Israeli troops and tanks massed on the border for an expected ground invasion.
Scores of trucks carrying vital supplies for Gaza headed toward the Rafah crossing in Egypt on Tuesday, the only access point to the coastal enclave outside Israeli control, but there was no clear indication that they would be able to enter.
About 500 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza hospital – health authorities
https://arab.news/68842
About 500 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza hospital – health authorities
- The media office of Gaza’s Hamas government described the attack as a ‘war crime’
- Families have flocked to Gaza’s hospitals seeking refuge from seemingly endless Israeli army shelling
At least 47 wounded, mostly by gunfire, as Palestinians crowd aid hub in Gaza
- The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people
GENEVA: A UN official says 47 Palestinians were wounded, mostly by gunfire, when crowd overran Gaza aid hub.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territories, told reporters in Geneva that it appeared Israeli army fire had caused most of the injuries.
On Tuesday, crowds of Palestinians overwhelmed a new aid distribution hub set up by an Israeli and US-backed foundation. The crowd broke through fences and an Associated Press journalist heard Israeli tank and gun fire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares.
The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah was opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations.
The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. They have also warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and people seeking supplies.
Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli blockade pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
Gaza rescuers say 16 killed in Israeli strikes Wednesday
- Israel has stepped up its offensive in Gaza this month, aiming for ‘the defeat of Hamas’
- At least 3,822 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza rescuers said sixteen people were killed Wednesday in Israeli strikes across the besieged Palestinian territory where Israel intensified its operations this month.
“Sixteen people have been killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.
Among them, nine belonged to the family of photojournalist Osama Al-Arbeed and were killed in a strike on their home in Gaza’s north at 2:00 a.m., Bassal said.
He added that Arbeed was injured, noting that he is a videographer and editor at a local film production organization.
Another six members of the same family were killed in central Gaza in a strike that left 15 people wounded, “including children.”
One other person, a civilian per Bassal, was killed near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.
When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military declined to comment on the strikes, saying it could not do so without precise coordinates.
Israel has stepped up its offensive in Gaza this month, aiming for “the defeat of Hamas,” more than 18 months after the group’s October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
Some 1,218 people were killed in that attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that at least 3,822 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,977, mostly civilians.
UNRWA chief warns of the organization’s dire financial state
- UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini gave his remarks during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo
TOKYO: The chief of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) on Wednesday said the organization’s financial situation is desperate, adding that it urgently needs support to continue operations past June.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini gave his remarks during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
Prabowo: Indonesia may recognize Israel if Palestine gains independence
- The Indonesian President said the two-state solution and the freedom of Palestine is the only way to achieve true peace
- French President Emmanuel Macron also reaffirmed his wish to see a two-state solution
JAKARTA: Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, is willing to recognize and open diplomatic relations with Israel if an independent Palestinian state is recognized by Tel Aviv, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday.
“The two-state solution and the freedom of Palestine is the only way to achieve the true peace. We must acknowledge and guarantee Israel’s rights as a sovereign country that must be paid attention to and guaranteed safety.
Indonesia has stated that once Israel recognizes Palestine, Indonesia is ready to recognize Israel,” he told a news conference.
Standing alongside visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, Prabowo said Israel’s security needs to be guaranteed, and that France would also continue to support steps toward independence for a Palestinian state.
Indonesia does not recognize or share any diplomatic relations with Israel.
French President Emmanuel Macron also reaffirmed his wish to see a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and said there were no double standards in French policy toward the Middle East.
Macron is leaning toward recognizing a Palestinian state, diplomats and experts say, a move that could infuriate Israel and deepen Western splits.
“Only a political solution will make it possible to restore peace and build for the long term,” Macron said.
“Together with Saudi Arabia, we will soon be organizing a conference on Gaza in New York to give fresh impetus to the recognition of a Palestinian state and the recognition of the State of Israel and its right to live in peace and security in this region.”
