Wounded Palestinians wait for treatment, at the al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City on October 17. Photo / AP
A massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter Tuesday, killing hundreds of people, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military said the hospital was hit by a rocket misfired by Palestinian militants.
The health ministry said at least 500 people had been killed. Video that the Associated Press confirmed was from the hospital showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital’s grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. Around them in the grass were blankets, school backpacks and other belongings.
A massacre: hundreds are killed in an Israeli strike on the Episcopal (Anglican) Church hospital (Al Ahli Arab Hospital) in #Gaza, there were hundreds of medical staff, patients and civilians taking refuge under Church protection. What and how long will it take to stop these… pic.twitter.com/oc3wSHwRTO
— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) October 17, 2023
The carnage came as the US tried to convince Israel to allow the delivery of supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals in the tiny Gaza Strip, which has been under a complete siege since Hamas’ deadly rampage in southern Israel last week. It also came a day before President Joe Biden was due to visit the region to show support for Israel and try to prevent the war from spreading.
Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in al-Ahli and other hospitals in Gaza City in 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 called Tuesday’s hospital strike “a horrific massacre,” saying it was caused by an Israeli strike.
The Israeli military, however, said Palestinian militants had fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital at the time. “Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch,” it said.
Ambulances and private cars rushed some 350 casualties from the al-Ahli blast to Gaza City’s main hospital, al-Shifa, already overwhelmed with wounded from other strikes, said its director, Mohammed Abu Selmia. The wounded were laid onto bloody floors, screaming in pain.
“We are squeezing five beds into a single tiny room. We need equipment, we need medicine, we need beds, we need anesthesia, we need everything,” Abu Selmia said, warning that the fuel supply for the hospital’s generators will run out Wednesday. “I think Gaza’s medical sector will collapse within hours.”
Before the al-Alhi Hospital deaths, Israeli strikes on Gaza killed at least 2778 people and wounded 9700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Nearly two-thirds of those killed were children, a ministry official said. Another 1200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.
Hamas’ October 7, attack in southern Israel killed more than 1400 people, mostly civilians, and took some 200 captive into Gaza. Hamas militants in Gaza have launched rockets every day since, aiming at cities across Israel.
In protest over the purported airstrike, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cancelled his participation in a meeting with Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egypt’s president set for Wednesday in Amman, Jordan to discuss the war. Abbas’ Palestinian Authority runs parts of the West Bank.
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. Hundreds of people joined protests that erupted in Beirut and Amman, where an angry crowd gathered outside the Israeli Embassy.
With tens of thousands of troops massed along the border, Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza — but plans remained uncertain.
“We are preparing for the next stages of war,” military spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said. “We haven’t said what they will be. Everybody’s talking about a ground offensive. It might be something different.”
In Gaza, dozens of injured were rushed to hospitals after heavy attacks outside the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. An Associated Press reporter saw around 50 bodies brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
An airstrike in Deir al Balah reduced a house to rubble, killing a man and 11 women and children inside and in a neighbouring house, some of whom had evacuated from Gaza City. Witnesses said there was no warning before the strike.
I’m horrified to see the bombing of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza and unequivocally condemn it. I urge the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and reiterate the call for a ceasefire. I am directing $300K to three charities helping Palestinian people under attack. pic.twitter.com/JiIPfnTUvY
— Malala Yousafzai (@Malala) October 17, 2023
Shelling from Israeli tanks hit a UN school in central Gaza where 4000 Palestinians had taken refuge, killing six people and wounding dozens, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency said. At least 24 UN installations have been hit the past week, killing at least 14 of the agency’s staff.
The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas hideouts, infrastructure and command centres.
A barrage of strikes crashed into the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, levelling an entire block of homes and causing dozens of casualties among families inside, residents said. Among those killed was one of Hamas’ top military commanders, Ayman Nofal, the group’s military wing said — the most high-profile militant known to have been killed so far in the war.
Nofal, formerly the intelligence chief of Hamas’ armed wing, was in charge of Hamas militant activities in the central Gaza Strip, including coordinating activities with other militant groups.
Netanyahu sought to put the blame on Hamas for Israel’s retaliatory attacks and the rising civilian casualties in Gaza. “Not only is it targeting and murdering civilians with unprecedented savagery, it’s hiding behind civilians,” he said.
In Gaza City, Israeli airstrikes also hit the house of Hamas’ top political official, Ismail Haniyeh, killing at least 14 people. Haniyeh is based in Doha, Qatar, but his family lives in Gaza City. The Hamas media office did not immediately identify those killed.
In the south, continued strikes killed dozens of civilians and at least one senior Hamas figure on Tuesday in attacks it says are targeted at militants. US officials worked to convince Israel to allow delivery of supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals after days of failed hopes for an opening in the siege.
Israel sealed off Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed over 1400 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in some 200 taken captive into Gaza. Hamas militants in Gaza have launched rockets every day since, aiming at cities across Israel.
With Israel barring entry of water, fuel and food into Gaza since Hamas’ brutal attack last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken secured an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss creation of a mechanism for delivering aid to the territory’s 2.3 million people. US officials said the gain might appear modest, but stressed that it was a significant step forward.
Still, as of late Tuesday, there was no deal in place. A top Israeli official said on Tuesday his country was demanding guarantees that Hamas militants would not seize any aid deliveries. Tzahi Hanegbi, head of Israel’s National Security Council, suggested entry of aid also depended on the return of hostages held by Hamas.
“The return of the hostages, which is sacred in our eyes, is a key component in any humanitarian efforts,” he told reporters, without elaborating whether Israel was demanding the release of all of the roughly 200 people Hamas abducted before allowing supplies in.
Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 2778 people and wounded 9700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Nearly two-thirds of those killed were children, a ministry official said.
Another 1200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.
More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes — roughly half of Gaza’s population — and 60 per cent are now in the approximately 14-kilometre long area south of the evacuation zone, the UN said.
Aid workers warned that the territory was near complete collapse. Hospitals were on the verge of losing electricity, threatening the lives of thousands of patients, and hundreds of thousands of people searched for bread and water.
The UN agency for Palestinians said more than 400,000 displaced people are crowded into schools and other facilities in the south. The agency said it has only 1 litre of water a day for each of its staff members trapped in the territory.
Israel opened a water line into the south for three hours that benefited only 14 per cent of Gaza’s population, the UN said.
At the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, truckloads of aid were waiting to enter. The World Food Program said that it had more than 270 tonnes of food waiting to cross into Gaza.
Civilians with foreign citizenship — many of them Palestinians with dual nationalities — also waited in Rafah, desperate to get out.
“We come to the border crossing hoping that it will open, but so far there is no information,” said Jameel Abdullah, a Swedish citizen.
Repeated reports that an opening was imminent have proven false as negotiations continued to grind on, including the US, Israel and Egypt.
A senior Egyptian official called it a “very tough, complicated back-and-forth process” and said talks were over deliveries through Rafah and Israel’s Karam Shalom crossing to Gaza. He said Israel was insisting to search all aid, and wants to “ensure that such aid won’t benefit Hamas”. He said Egypt proposed that the UN oversee the whole process, including inside Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief the press on the talks.
Rafah | “Ahmed, it’s us. We were bombed”
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) October 17, 2023
A medical doctor is informed by his cousin that his family, who had sought refuge at their uncle's house, has been bombed. The doctor is in shock and finds it hard to believe the news. pic.twitter.com/QN2xCHsaUr
Officials for Hamas and Israel cast doubt on an immediate opening, saying they were unaware of an agreement.
Blinken arrived in Israel last Thursday with a full-throated message of unequivocal US support for Israel in its campaign to destroy Hamas. But in meetings with seven Arab leaders over the next three days, Blinken’s tone shifted subtly, talking more prominently about the need for humanitarian aid.
US officials said it had become clear by then that already limited Arab tolerance of Israel’s military operations would evaporate entirely if conditions in Gaza worsened. They said that outright condemnation of Israel by Arab leaders would be a boon to Hamas and could encourage Iran, according to four officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration thinking. That prompted Blinken to press Netanyahu on an aid deal.
Biden’s visit to Israel on Wednesday will signal the White House’s support for a key ally. He will also travel to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders amid fears the fighting could spread in the region.
Israel evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon, where the military has exchanged fire repeatedly with Hezbollah militants.
Israel said it killed four militants wearing explosive vests who were attempting to cross into the country from Lebanon on Tuesday morning. No group immediately claimed responsibility.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Israel’s continuing offensive in Gaza could cause a violent reaction across the region.
“Bombardments should be immediately stopped. Muslim nations are angry,” Khamenei said, according to state media.
- AP
Arthur 'Afa' Folasa Ah Loo, 39, was shot at the Salt Lake City 'No Kings' protest.