An Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza has led to the death of at least 500 people, according to Palestine officials. A separate strike on a UN-run school led to at least six deaths in Gaza.
The airstrike hit al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City where hundreds of people including doctors and patients were seeking shelter.
The strike has been condemned by many world leaders including the head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Ghebreyesus.
“@WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in north Gaza. Early reports indicate hundreds of deaths and injuries. We call for the immediate protection of civilians and health care, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed,” Mr Ghebreyesus wrote on the X social media platform.
Israel, which has been bombing Gaza for over a week after a fatal attack on Israel by Hamas, has, however, denied being responsible for the attack on the hospital.
Speaking to the BBC, Mark Regev, the senior adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister, said Israeli authorities believe that a Hamas rocket was to blame for the blast at the hospital.
“We know that at the time of this tragedy in Gaza, there was a huge barrage against targets in central Israel. We had the siren here in Tel Aviv, and I went to a bomb shelter,” BBC quoted him as saying.
“We know they fired rockets at that same time. Hamas put out a statement that they were sending a long-range rocket on Haifa [northern Israel at this time.”
“Now no rocket actually reached Haifa. Where did that rocket go? Where did it land?” Mr Regev asked.
Contrary to Mr Regev’s claim, however, journalists on the ground in Gaza reported that such bombing that leads to massive destruction could only have been by an air strike such as the ones Israel has been carrying out in Gaza.
Several countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and UAE have condemned the attack.
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has declared three days of mourning following the hospital incident, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reports.
Mr Abbas also cancelled a meeting with US President Joe Biden which was scheduled for Wednesday.
In a separate bombing incident, at least six people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a UN school in Gaza.
“At least six people were killed this afternoon when an UNRWA school was hit in Al-Maghazi refugee camp” in central Gaza, Al-Arabiya quotes the UN agency for Palestinian refugees as saying.
“The school was hit during Israeli forces air strikes and bombardment on the Gaza strip.”
The agency added that “At least 4,000 people have taken refuge in this UNRWA school turned shelter. They had and still have nowhere else to go.”
The UNRWA – United Nations Relief and Works Agency – was established in 1949 to provide humanitarian support for Palestinian refugees.
The Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed almost three thousand people, most of them civilians. The strikes are Israel’s retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas, which governs Gaza, on Israel last week. That Hamas attack, which has been condemned by many world leaders, led to over 1,300 deaths and over 100 Israelis captured.
The latest war between Israel and Hamas is the worst in decades amidst calls for peace and ceasefire by many countries including Nigeria and for a return to discussions for a two-state solution that would guarantee peace and security for Israel and Palestine.
