Confusion reigns around a deadly strike on a hospital in Gaza. This raid, attributed to Israel by Hamas, left at least 200 dead. The Israeli army, for its part, points to a failed shot by the Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad.
On the eleventh day of the war triggered by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil, a strike on a hospital in Gaza aggravates an already very heavy toll. At least 200 people were killed on Tuesday, October 17, within the confines of this hospital. A shooting attributed by Hamas to Israel, which denies and accuses the Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad.
This raid comes on the eve of the visit to the area by American President Joe Biden, who has already announced “postpone” his planned trip to Jordan. The Jordanian authorities had announced that they were canceling a tripartite summit with the tenant of the White House, the Egyptian president and the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Amman. Joe Biden, who expressed “deepest condolences for the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza”, dto meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Here’s what to remember from Tuesday.
Deadly strike on hospital in Gaza, origin unclear, triggers wave of condemnation
In a statement, Hamas said “200 to 300 martyrs” killed in a bombing that hit the compound of the Ahli Arab hospital, located in downtown Gaza. “Hundreds of victims are still in the rubble“, according to the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian territory. While Hamas accused Israel of being at the origin of this strike, the Israeli army denied in a press release: “According to intelligence information, based on several sources we have obtained, Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket attack that hit the hospital.” “Let the whole world know: the barbaric terrorists in Gaza are the ones who attacked the hospital in Gaza and not the Israeli army,” for his part hammered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
While the circumstances of this strike are still unclear, it triggered a wave of anger in the Arab world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for “stopping this unprecedented violence in Gaza”. Qatar denounced a “massacre”, just like Jordan, where dozens of demonstrators tried to enter the grounds of the Israeli embassy in Amman. DAngry demonstrators also gathered in front of the French embassy in Tunis. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning in the Palestinian Territories andThe Lebanese Hezbollah called for observing a “day of anger”.
The international community was also moved by the fact that a hospital was targeted. “Unacceptable”, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Paris also condemned “firmly” this strike. “International humanitarian law is binding on everyone and must enable the protection of civilian populations”underlined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release. “Nothing can justify targeting civilians”added Emmanuel Macron on the social network.
Six dead in Israeli strike on school housing displaced people
At least six people who had sheltered in a school run by the UN refugee agency in the Gaza Strip were killed in an Israeli raid, UNRWA announced. “The school was hit during bombardments by Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip”she reported in a press release, specifying that dozens of people had also been injured and that the death toll was “definitely higher”. Asked by AFP, the Israeli army said it was verifying this information.
According to a report released Tuesday by the Hamas Ministry of Health, not taking into account the strike on the hospital, around 3,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the reprisals for the bloody Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7.
Four attackers killed in attempted infiltration into Israel from Lebanon
The Israeli army announced that it had killed at least four attackers during an infiltration attempt on its northern border with Lebanon, where violence is increasing. In a statement, the IDF said its soldiers had “spotted a terrorist squad attempting to infiltrate through the security fence from Lebanon and plant an explosive device”.
Hamas announces the death of one of its commanders in an Israeli raid
Aymane Nofal, a commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, was killed in an Israeli army strike on the Bureij refugee camp, a short Hamas statement said. Confirming having killed him, the Israeli army for its part affirmed that he “had carried out numerous attacks against Israel”, “supervised the making of weapons” And “took part in organizing the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit”an Israeli soldier captured in 2006 and released in 2011.
During the night, another Hamas executive, Ossama Mazini, was killed by the Israeli army, she said. The group has not commented.
The French death toll rises to 21
The Quai d’Orsay announced that two other French nationals had died, “which brings to 21 the toll of French victims of terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel.. “Eleven compatriots are still missing”adds the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release. “This is the case of a national whose vile staging by Hamas in a video France denounces,” continues the Quai d’Orsay.
A video of a Franco-Israeli woman, Mia Shem, was released Monday by the Palestinian Islamist organization. His mother begged Tuesday “the leaders of the world” to free his daughter, kidnapped on October 7 in Israel. “We are doing everything in our power to secure his release,” declared Emmanuel Macron dsince Tirana (Albania), where he is traveling. The French president spoke of “intense discussions”Who “advance” according to him, to obtain the release of the hostages in the hands of Hamas.