What we know about the Gaza hospital blast that left more than 500 dead
The Al-Ahli hospital was crowded both with victims of 10 days of Israeli airstrikes and with families and others who had taken refuge on the hospital grounds
In the dark of early evening of Tuesday (October 17) in Gaza, reports emerged of an explosion at Gaza City's al-Ahli hospital. Al-Ahli was crowded both with victims of 10 days of Israeli airstrikes and with families and others who have taken refuge on hospital grounds.
A video that The Associated Press confirmed as being from the hospital showed an orange ball of fire and flames engulfing the building and grounds.
The video showed the outside of the hospital, where countless Palestinian families had been camping out. Torn bodies covered the grass, with slain children lying among dead adults. The explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital left gruesome scenes. The grass around them was strewn with blankets, school backpacks, and other belongings.
Ambulances and private cars rushed some 350 casualties from the al-Ahli blast to Gaza City's main hospital, al-Shifa, which was already overwhelmed with wounded from other strikes, said its director, Mohammed Abu Selmia. The wounded were laid onto bloody floors, screaming in pain.
“We need equipment, we need medicine, we need beds, we need anesthesia, we need everything,” Abu Selmia said.
He warned that fuel for the hospital's generators would run out within hours.
Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in Al-Ahli and other hospitals in Gaza City in the past days, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.
Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants.
Hamas’ version of the Gaza hospital blast
At least 500 people were killed, the Gaza health ministry said.
Hamas called Tuesday's hospital blast “a horrific massacre,” saying it was caused by an Israeli strike.
Islamic Jihad dismissed the Israeli claims blaming their outfit for the blast at the hospital, accusing Israel of “trying hard to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.”
The group pointed to Israel's order that Al-Ahli be evacuated and its previous bombing of the hospital complex as proof that the hospital was an Israeli target. It also said the scale of the explosion, the angle of the bomb's fall, and the extent of the destruction all pointed to Israel.
Israeli version of what happened
The Israeli military blamed Islamic Jihad, a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often works with Hamas. The military said Islamic Jihad militants had fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital and that “intelligence from multiple sources" indicated the group was responsible.
In a briefing with reporters, the chief army spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the army determined there were no air force, ground or naval attacks in the area at the time of the blast. He said radar detected outgoing rocket fire at the same moment, and intercepted communications between militant groups indicated that Islamic Jihad fired the rockets.
Hagari also shared aerial footage collected by a military drone that showed a blast that he said was inconsistent with Israeli weaponry. He said the explosion occurred in the building's parking lot.
The military said in a statement that since the war began, roughly 450 rockets fired at Israel by militant groups had landed in Gaza, “endangering and harming the lives of Gazan residents.”
Protests erupt
Hundreds of Palestinians flooded the streets of major West Bank cities including Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, where protesters hurled stones at Palestinian security forces who fired back with stun grenades. Others threw stones at Israeli checkpoints, where soldiers killed one Palestinian, West Bank authorities said.
Protests erupted in some Arab cities. In Beirut, protesters roamed the city on motorcycles and gathered outside the French embassy and a UN facility, in protests against the international community's response to the civilian deaths in Gaza. Throngs of Jordanians gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in Amman.
Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt and other Arab nations condemned the hospital attack, or declared days of national mourning.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi declared the hospital explosion “a clear violation of international law ... and humanity.”
(With agency inputs)