Fury as Gaza hospital strike kills hundreds
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories—A blast ripped through a Gaza hospital killing at least 200 people late Tuesday, sparking global condemnation and violent protests in several Muslim nations. Israel and Palestinians traded blame for the incident, which an “outraged and deeply saddened” US President Joe Biden denounced while en route to the Middle East. Hamas authorities in Gaza said the explosion at Ahli Arab Hospital was caused by the latest in a wave of Israeli airstrikes. Israeli Defense Forces blamed Palestinian militants, saying an outgoing Islamic Jihad rocket misfired. Neither account could be independently corroborated. On the ground, there were scenes of chaos as the injured and dead were taken to nearby medical centers. There, scores of bodies cloaked in blood-stained sheets and white plastic wrap lined the floors. Stunned relatives tried to identify loved ones. “We were operating in the hospital. There was a strong explosion and the ceiling fell on the operating room,” said Ghassan Abu Sittah, a doctor with the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF). “Hospitals are not a target,” he said. “This bloodshed must stop. Enough is enough.” For 11 days, Israel has launched withering strikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza—retaliation for the killing of 1,400 Israelis who were shot, mutilated and burned in Oct. 7 cross-border raids. Int’l condemnation Even amid the uncertainty over what caused the incident at the Christian-run hospital, there was rapid and widespread international condemnation.“The responsibility for this crime must be clearly established & the perpetrators held accountable” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. From Tripoli to Tehran there was a furious response across the Muslim world.Protestors in Jordan—home to millions of Palestinian refugees—tried to storm the Israeli Embassy. In Lebanon, demonstrators clashed with security forces outside the US Embassy. Stones were hurled and a building set on fire. Hezbollah, Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed armed militant group and political party, called for a “day of rage.” Biden visit The horror of events at Ahli Arab Hospital and the swift backlash had threatened to derail Biden’s high-stakes visit to the Middle East, which got under way Wednesday. A four-way summit in Amman with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was canceled. It would be held “when the decision to stop the war and put an end to these massacres has been taken,” said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. Landing in Israel, Biden said Washington would provide
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