Hundreds of people were feared dead on Tuesday after an explosion at a hospital in Gaza, which the Palestinians and Israel blamed each other for, escalating tensions across the region.
The Hamas-controlled health ministry said at least 200 people were killed in what it said was an Israeli strike on Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City — the day before US president Joe Biden was due to arrive in Israel.
That would make it the deadliest incident in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive on the strip in response to a deadly October 7 attack by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.
But the Israel Defense Forces said its intelligence indicated that the explosion was caused by a misfired rocket launched by Islamic Jihad, a smaller Islamist militant group also based in Gaza.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian organisation, said “hundreds” of people had been killed at the hospital. It was not possible to independently verify the death toll or the cause of the explosion.
The incident will cast a cloud over Biden’s trip to Israel to show solidarity with the Jewish state, as well as to push for the delivery of aid into Gaza.
Jordan cancelled a summit at which Biden was to meet the Jordanian and Egyptian leaders, as well as Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, a Jordanian official said.
Biden said he was “deeply saddened” by the “explosion” at the hospital, and he had asked his national security team to “continue gathering information about what exactly happened”.
In a statement issued while he was in flight to Israel, Biden did not attribute the incident to either side of the conflict.
“The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy,” he said.
The explosion triggered clashes between Palestinians and police in the occupied West Bank — fuelling concerns that the war between Israel and Hamas will spill over into that territory.
Videos posted online showed Palestinian police using tear gas against crowds at several locations in the West Bank.
The blast also drew condemnation from Muslim countries, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which blamed Israel. Jordan’s King Abdullah said the bombing, which he pinned on Israel, was a “massacre” and a war crime.
Thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge in hospitals in Gaza believing they would be safe from Israel’s bombardment of the densely populated enclave.
Gaza, which is home to 2.3mn Palestinians and is controlled by Hamas, has been targeted by intense Israeli air and artillery strikes for more than a week.
Ghassan Abu Sitta, a Palestinian-British surgeon, posted on social media: “I moved to Al Ahli hospital to help out. The Israelis have just hit Al Ahli hospital.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The entire world should know: [it was] the barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF.”
Biden’s statement said he had spoken to Netanyahu and King Abdullah after the explosion.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli military, said the IDF was carrying out an investigation into the attack on the hospital that would be completed ahead of Biden’s arrival in Israel.
He added the IDF had evidence of a barrage of rockets fired across the hospital by Islamic Jihad, and that one had hit the site.
But Islamic Jihad denied being responsible for the explosion at the hospital, according to a spokesperson quoted by Reuters.
Speaking from Jerusalem, Reverend Fadi Biab, vice-chair of the hospital’s board, said it was assessing the number of casualties, adding he could not confirm the number.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said the WHO “strongly condemns the attack” on Al-Ahli Arab hospital and called for “the immediate protection of civilians and healthcare”.
Russia’s UN mission said it and the United Arab Emirates had requested an extraordinary Security Council meeting to discuss the blast at the hospital, according to state newswire Tass.
A Saudi foreign ministry statement said the kingdom “condemns in the strongest terms the atrocious crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces in shelling the Ahli hospital”.
Riyadh had been in discussions with the US over a deal to normalise relations with Israel before the Hamas attack triggered the Israeli offensive on Gaza.
Israel’s bombardment of the hemmed-in strip began after Hamas’s assault killed more than 1,400 Israelis, according to Israeli officials. The militant group also took nearly 200 hostages.
The Israeli strikes have since killed more than 3,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.
Dozens were killed in air strikes in the southern towns of Rafah and Khan Younis on Tuesday and scores more injured, according to Palestinian officials.
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Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled to the south of the enclave after Israel last week ordered them to leave the north, including Gaza City.
The Israeli military says it is targeting Hamas militants, whom it accuses of hiding around hospitals and schools and using civilians as “human shields”.
The UN said on Tuesday that at least six people had been killed when one of its schools in the middle of the territory sheltering 4,000 displaced Palestinians was hit during Israeli air strikes.
It added that dozens more had been injured, including some of its staff in a school in the al-Maghazi refugee camp.
“This is outrageous and it again shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians,” said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general for UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees. “No place is safe in Gaza anymore, not even UNRWA facilities.”
The UN has warned of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Drinking water is scarce, mains power is not available and supplies of fuel, medicines and food are running out. UNRWA said “people will start dying” because of the water shortages.
Additional reporting by James Politi in Washington
