At least 500 people died after the Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was bombed at around 7:30 P.M on Tuesday night. This is considered as the bloodiest attack since Hamas and Israel declared war on October 7. Reactions have been muddled in the heat of battle, with both the Israeli and Palestinian camps denying any blame against a background of conflicting web narratives and pervasive misinformation. Israel has presented information that claims the explosion was caused by a malfunction by the extremist group Islamic Jihad. US President Joe Biden backed Israel’s claims, citing intelligence from the US.
Subsequently, a National Security Council spokesman stated that an examination of intercepts, open-source data, and overhead photography indicated that Israel is “not responsible.” “Based on the information we’ve seen today, it appears the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza,” US President Biden said, who is on a visit to Israel presently.
However, many people are unlikely to accept Israel’s assertion that the explosion was brought on by a missile fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) organization. Disparities between Israel’s initial and subsequent replies have fueled this skepticism.
A number of Arab politicians and Palestinian authorities claim that Israel struck the hospital during its current bombings in Gaza. Islamic Jihad, Hamas’s adversary, has disclaimed any involvement. Hananya Naftali, a digital aide to Israeli PM, Netanyahu posted on X,” Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza”, but the post was immediately deleted. He later apologized for posting a “false Reuters report”.
IDF Spokesperson later stated “An enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed through the vicinity of the hospital when it was hit, according to the analysis of the Israeli army’s operational systems”. The post carried along video evidence. However, Journalist Aric Toler of The New York Times’ visual investigations team questioned the footage’s veracity, pointing out that the time stamp showed it was taken 40 minutes after the explosion.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that since the start of the war on October 7, more than 51 attacks have been carried on health facilities with more than 15 paramedics killed and over 27 injured. Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the West Bank and Gaza stated, “Now, even a hospital is not a safe place anymore”. As the residents mourned the deadly strike, Israeli air raids targeted Southern Gaza.
THE ALLIES
UK PM Rishi Sunak is also headed for Israel for talks. During his two-day visit to the Middle East, Rishi Sunak is also set to tour Saudi Arabia, where he has a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “I’m here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people,” Mr. Sunak said as he arrived at the Tel Aviv airport. “I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I are with you in the wake of this terrible act of terrorism. I am looking forward to meeting with the president and prime minister later today. And I sincerely hope that the meetings will be fruitful.”
US President Biden also visited Israel to show support for the Israeli people in the wake of Hamas terrorist strikes, which claimed the lives of over 1,300 innocent civilians, including at least 31 Americans. “Israel is not alone”, as the President made abundantly evident throughout the visit, and with American assistance, it will continue to be a secure, Jewish, democratic state for all time.
In order to lessen the suffering of innocent Palestinians, the President also spoke about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and pledged new humanitarian aid.
Indian PM Narendra Modi also rooted for Israel, saying, “We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.” “The families of the innocent victims are in our thoughts and prayers.” “India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” Modi said following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, The Gaza Strip hospital attack infuriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also stated that the deaths of civilians in the most recent round of the Israel-Palestine war are cause for concern. PM Modi demanded justice in the issue in a social media tweet made hours after it was claimed that Israel bombed the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 500 Palestinians. Numerous other prominent politicians, like as Congress woman Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have also denounced the bombing.
THE OUTRAGE
Protests across the Middle East have increased worries that other armed groups in the region could join the Israel-Hamas conflict, even if the reason of the explosion is yet unknown. As hundreds of people take to the streets to protest Israel’s bombing, anger is evident throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
The images of the pain and the devastation of the Al-Ahli hospital are upsetting to the entire region, according to Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, an associate professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who spoke with DW about the extremely combustible situation.
Impulsive protests have broken out in broken out in West Bank cities like Ramallah as well as in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq.
Earlier, the Supreme Leader of Iran stated that it is extremely difficult to stop Muslim nations, people, and countries from expressing their fury once they become enraged. That is precisely what we are witnessing in these nations’ streets, and Iran is no exception.
Turkey has always had strong anti-Israel feelings due to Israel’s decades-long subjugation of Palestine and its war against the Palestinian people. “There is a very distinctive anger kind of anger toward Israel right now. You can just feel it, you can just smell it on the street”, reported Emre Basaran, a freelance Journalist.
In the Israel-Gaza conflict, UN S ecretary-General Antonio Guterres has demanded an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza reports that hundreds are thought to have perished in the attack, and pictures of the horrific aftermath have sparked protests throughout the region.
Since Hamas’s October 7 strike inside Israel, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 people, Israeli attacks on Gaza have claimed the lives of about 3,480 Palestinians.
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