The Gaza Ministry of Health has reported the death of more than 500 people in an Israeli bombing against the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City in the context of the clashes between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Local sources cited by the Palestinian news agency Maan have assured that after the bombing a fire broke out in the hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent has called the attack a “genocide” on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Civil Defense spokesperson, Mahmud Basal, has assured in statements to the Al Jazeera network collected by the Gaza Ministry of the Interior on its Telegram channel that “the scenes” of the “atrocious massacre” are “indescribable.”
Three days of official mourning
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has declared three days of official mourning due to the bombing of the hospital, so the flags will fly at half-mast, according to the WAFA news agency.
A turning point in the conflict
The political leader of the Islamist movement Hamas, Ismail Haniye, has stated that the massacre in the Gaza hospital will mean “a turning point” in the “Al Aqsa Storm” operation against Israel.
In a speech, Haniye assured that Israel will be hit “on all fronts”after an attack, of which Hamas accuses Israeli aviation, against the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City, with more than 500 deaths.
Israel blames Islamic Jihad
For its part, the Israeli Army has assured that the explosion at the Gaza hospital was due to a failed rocket launch by the group’s militiamen. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) towards Israel.
An Israeli Army spokesperson said that “multiple intelligence sources indicate that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed launch of the rocket that hit the hospital.”
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also blamed “barbaric Gaza terrorists” for the attack. “Let the whole world know: the barbaric terrorists of Gaza are the only ones who attacked the hospital in Gaza, not the Army,” he said in a statement.
“Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their children,” the Israeli president stressed. Previously, The IDF has also denied being behind the attack and they have assured that the explosion was caused by a failed rocket launched by Islamic Jihad, which at the time supported the Hamas offensive.