2023-10-18 04:31:51
– Horror over rocket impact in hospital in the Gaza Strip
Hundreds of people die in the attack on a hospital in Gaza. Hamas accuses Israel, and Israel in turn accuses Islamic Jihad. What is known regarding the explosion? Answers to the most important questions.
Published today at 6:31 amUpdated 1 hour ago
Outrage and horror following attack on hospital in Gaza Strip
A rocket strike has killed hundreds of people at the Al-Ahli clinic in the Gaza Strip. Israel and militant Palestinian organizations blame each other.
Video: Tamedia
Just a few hours before US President Joe Biden is expected in Israel, a rocket hits a hospital in Gaza City. Hundreds of people are said to have died – but the exact number of deaths is currently unknown, as is the background to the attack. An overview of the facts known so far.
What happened?
The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City was the target of an airstrike on Tuesday evening. Hundreds of people were reportedly killed or injured. At the time, thousands of refugees were seeking refuge in the clinic, said the Ministry of Health, which is subordinate to the militant Islamist Hamas.
The clinic is run by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem and is the only Christian hospital in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian authorities accuse the Israeli army of being responsible for the attack. This in turn speaks of a misdirected rocket from militant Palestinians. The information provided by both parties to the conflict cannot yet be verified.
What does Israel say regarding this?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied responsibility for the impact. “The whole world should know: it was barbaric terrorists in Gaza who attacked the hospital in Gaza,” said Netanyahu. It wasn’t the Israeli military.
“Those who brutally murdered our children are also murdering their own children,” he continued. Israel’s President Isaac Herzog wrote on (…) Shame on the vile terrorists in Gaza who deliberately shed the blood of innocent people. The choice has never been clearer. Israel faces an enemy made of pure evil. If you stand for humanity – for the value of all human life – you stand with Israel.”
A statement from the Israeli military said followingwards that initial information indicated that “Islamic Jihad was responsible for the failed rocket launch.” The information cannot be independently verified. However, Israel announced that it would provide evidence.
How does Hamas react?
Hamas contradicts the Israelis’ account. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh accused the US of being behind the crime and of covering up Israel. The attack will be a “new turning point in the conflict”. The extremists of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia announced a “day of unprecedented anger” once morest Israel and US President Biden’s visit to the country on Wednesday. The US bears direct and complete responsibility “for this massacre,” the statement said.
How many people were hit?
The head of civil defense in Gaza said at least 300 people had been killed, and the Ministry of Health said at least 500 people had been killed or injured. Both authorities report to the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army, however, doubts the number of deaths. There was no direct hit on the facility, says an Israeli army spokesman. Footage from military drones would more likely indicate an impact in the parking lot.
What are the reactions in the Arab world?
The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, spoke of a “horrific crime, a genocide”. The countries that supported Israel also bear responsibility for this.
Spontaneous protests have broken out in numerous predominantly Muslim countries. In Amman, demonstrators tried to get to the Israeli embassy, and numerous demonstrators also gathered in front of the consulate in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul. There were also protests in Tunis, Baghdad and Tehran. In Tehran city center, a crowd chanted “Down with Israel,” videos from the state news agency Irna showed. The Iranian government declared Wednesday a day of mourning. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman strongly condemned the attack and blamed its arch-enemy Israel.
In Lebanon, hundreds of Hezbollah supporters poured into the streets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, eyewitnesses said, demanding that Tel Aviv be bombed.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman condemned the attack and blamed Israel. Morocco also condemned the “bombing” of the hospital “by Israeli forces” “in the strongest possible terms,” and Egypt also made similar statements. Several states announced days of mourning for the victims. The United Arab Emirates and Russia requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the incident.
Jordan canceled the meeting between King Abdullah II and US President Joe Biden planned for Wednesday. Biden will only be welcomed when there is an agreement to end the war and stop “these massacres,” said Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi.
Protests in many cities – like here in front of the Israeli embassy in Istanbul.
Photo: Emrah Gurel (AP/Keystone/17. Oktober 2023)
How do the UN and the West react?
There was also sharp criticism from the UN. “I am horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians today in an attack on a hospital in Gaza, which I condemn in the strongest possible terms,” wrote UN Secretary-General António Guterres on X, formerly Twitter. In view of the escalation of violence, he travels to Cairo. According to the UN, the 74-year-old Portuguese wants to meet there with the Egyptian head of state from Thursday, among other things, to get the closed Rafah border crossing from the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip opened.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for a complete investigation. He called on states with influence in the region to do everything in their power to bring the events there to an end. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the rocket strike. “Nothing can justify an attack on a hospital,” he wrote on X.
What does this mean for US President Joe Biden’s visit?
With the attack, the signs for Biden’s trip to Israel have worsened once once more. He himself was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the explosion in the hospital, it said in a written statement. Immediately following the incident became known, he spoke to Jordan’s king and Israel’s prime minister and instructed his team to collect further information regarding what happened. According to the communications director of the US government’s National Security Council, John Kirby, Biden will also ask “tough questions” in Israel and address the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. According to Biden, the USA does not want the conflict to expand or deepen.
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