A projectile hit one of the oldest hospitals in Gaza, causing the death of 300 to 500 people, according to reports communicated by several Palestinian authorities.
Horror scenes that arouse international indignation. At the end of the day, Tuesday October 17, an explosion destroyed the al-Ahli Arabi hospital (“The Arab People’s Hospital”), in Gaza City. The victims number in the hundreds, according to the Palestinian authorities. The Palestinian Territory Ministry of Health reports “200 to 300” dead and adds that “hundreds of victims are still in the rubble”. Hamas reports more than 500 deaths. The Palestinian and Israeli authorities accuse each other of being at the origin of the tragedy.
Hospital hit after dark
The explosion destroyed the al-Ahli hospital, in the center of Gaza City, after dark, causing chaos in and around the establishment. “We were operating in the hospital, there was a loud explosion and the ceiling fell on the operating room. It was a massacre”testifies Ghassan Abu Sittah, of Médecins sans frontières, in a press release from the NGO. “When the massive explosion happened, we found ourselves thrown backwards. We thought it had happened inside our building, but we quickly realized that was not the case. We saw that it was the hospital”tells a neighbor of the establishment to franceinfo.
After the tragedy, photos taken by journalists on site showed dozens of bodies, covered in white sheets or plastic sheeting, littering the ground around the hospital. We can see numerous corpses of children there. Other photos show victims, of all ages, covered in dust and injured. In the hospital courtyard, dozens of vehicle wrecks are charred.
Israel blames Islamic Jihad
The Israeli army claims to have “proofs” of responsibility for Islamic Jihad. “The evidence, which we share with you all, confirms that the explosion at a Gaza hospital was caused by the firing of a failed Islamic Jihad rocket,” Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
“There was no army fire from land, sea or air that hit the hospital”assured the Israeli military spokesperson. “Our radar systems located the missiles fired by Gaza terrorists at the time of the explosion and trajectory analysis shows that the rockets were fired near the hospital.”
To support its statement, the Israeli army broadcast on the social network X (ex-Twitter) a video that it presents as that of the explosion in flight of a rocket fired from Gaza. The explosion occurred at 6:59 p.m. local time (7:59 p.m. in Paris), according to this video, and took place, again according to the Israeli army, “at the same time as the hospital was hit in Gaza City.”
“The only place of damage is located outside the hospital, in the parking lot, where signs of fire can be seen”, insisted the spokesperson for the Israeli army, supporting satellite photos. In addition, it also broadcast a text presented as the transcription of a conversation between two Hamas leaders, who spoke of a rocket attack by the Palestinian armed group.
Hamas accuses the Israeli army
The Islamist movement Hamas, in power in Gaza, accuses Israel. “This horrible massacre was perpetrated with the help of an American military arsenal of which only the occupant disposes”he says. In a statement, Hamas believes that Israel is seeking “in vain to evade his responsibility in the hospital massacre by presenting a false version which has nothing to do with reality and which he tries to promote with his propaganda”.
Islamic Jihad, for its part, describes “lies” the accusations of the Israeli state, designating him as guilty of a strike. “As usual, the Zionist enemy is trying, through the fabrication of lies, to evade its responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed”declares the Islamist movement in a press release.
As of Tuesday evening, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, completely refuted these accusations in a press release from his office: “Let the whole world know: the barbaric terrorists in Gaza are the ones who attacked the hospital in Gaza, not the Israeli army. Those who brutally killed our children are killing their own children.”
The international community condemns the destruction
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared a three-day national mourning in the Palestinian territories, calling the explosion a “massacre”, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. He also canceled his meeting scheduled for Wednesday with US President Joe Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in Amman, the AP news agency reported.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “horrified”, while he is due to go to Egypt on Thursday, near the border with the Gaza Strip, to discuss humanitarian aid. Hamas attacks “cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinians”he added, calling for a “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. The situation in Gaza “gets out of control”for lack of humanitarian aid yet ready to be delivered, for his part affirmed the head of the World Health Organization on X on Wednesday. “Every second we wait for medical help, we lose lives”lamented Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stressing that medical supplies had been blocked for four days at the Egyptian border.
The explosion sparked strong reactions in the Muslim world. Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, called for a “day of anger” Wednesday to condemn the “massacre”, of which he accuses Israel. Same reaction from Jordan. Thus, the quadripartite summit which was to bring together American President Joe Biden and the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday in Amman was postponed indefinitely and will be held “when the decision to stop the war and put an end to these massacres is taken”said the head of Jordanian diplomacy.
For his part, Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi declared a day of “public mourning” Wednesday and predicted that the attack on the hospital would backfire against Israel and its American ally. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, for his part, condemned in the strongest possible terms “the Israeli bombing” from the Gaza hospital, which he described as “deliberate” and of “clear violation of international law”. Qatar reused Mahmoud Abbas’ terms, evoking a “massacre” and one “hate crime against defenseless civilians, and a serious violation (…) of international law.”
Expected in Israel on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden spoke “immediately after hearing the news” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and King Abdullah II of Jordan. He said to himself “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion” and by “the terrible losses that resulted”.
On the European side, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, deplored that“once again, innocent civilians pay the highest price”. “Responsibility for this crime must be clearly established and its perpetrators held accountable”he wrote on X. Emmanuel Macron condemned, again on Xthe destruction of the hospital and stressed that “nothing can justify targeting civilians”. He also called for the opening “without delay” access to the Gaza Strip for humanitarian aid.
Angry demonstrations in the Middle East
In addition to political reactions, this attack also caused people to react. Thus, demonstrators took to the streets in Tehran, Amman, Istanbul, Tunis and even in Beirut, where clashes took place with the police. In Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, clashes broke out between demonstrators calling for the departure of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his security forces.
Several embassies were targeted. Dozens of demonstrators attempted to enter the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan, to express their anger. Hundreds of people gathered in front of the French and British embassies in Tehran, according to an AFP photographer on site. “Death to France and England”, shouted demonstrators in Tehran, throwing eggs at the walls of the French embassy compound. Others gathered at the French embassy in Tunisia on Tuesday evening. “The French and Americans are the allies of the Zionists”chanted the angry demonstrators in front of the headquarters of the French embassy in the center of Tunis, AFP noted.
In Turkey, a large crowd also gathered in front of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, with raised fists, the official Anadolu news agency reported. A similar demonstration simultaneously brought together some 500 people in front of the Hebrew state embassy in Ankara, according to the Anka news agency.