Jurist Blast at Gaza hospital kills hundreds; Palestinian millitants and IDF trade blame

[Dadparvar]

A blast at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Gaza’s health ministry reportedly placed the death toll at 500 and blamed an Israel Defense Force (IDF) airstrike. However, the IDF’s top spokesperson claimed that the blast was the result of a failed rocket attack by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, citing intelligence sources. The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital had been sheltering civilians at the time the blast occurred.

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which administers the hospital, issued a statement calling the blast an “attack,” reading in part:

In the strongest terms, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem condemns this atrocious attack that has transpired in the heart of Gaza. Initial reports suggest the loss of countless lives, a manifestation of what can only be described as a crime against humanity. Hospitals, by the tenants of international humanitarian law, are sanctuaries, yet this assault has transgressed those sacred boundaries. We heed the call of Archbishop Justin Welby, who emplored for the safeguarding of medical facilities and the recession of evacuation orders. Regrettably, Gaza remains bereft of safe havens.

The diocese also said the incident “deserves international condemnation and retribution.”

Meanwhile, chief IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari denied responsibility and implicated Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Islamist group fighting Israel alongside Hamas. Hagari said in a video:

I can confirm that an analysis of the IDF operational systems indicates a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the … hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit. Intelligence from few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.

A press release from the Palestinian Red Crescent termed the blast a “war crime.” Article 18 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel and Palestine are both parties, prohibits hospitals from being targeted and requires that they “be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.”

According to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was hit by Israeli rocket fire on Saturday, resulting in damage to two floors of its diagnostic cancer center and four injuries.

At least 2,778 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have been killed during hostilities since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, according to the Palestinian health ministry and the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

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