Hundreds of people have allegedly died, with some estimates claiming as many as 500.
Hospital explosion: Yesterday, the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City was struck in the single deadliest day of violence since October 7. Hundreds of people have allegedly died, with some estimates claiming as many as 500, though it is hard to confirm the exact toll at this stage. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it was an accidental explosion by the group Islamic Jihad; the terrorist group says the IDF is deflecting blame and is actually responsible for the attack.
The IDF « was not firing in the area, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said, » reports the Associated Press. Per Hagari, « Israeli radar confirmed a rocket barrage fired by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad from a nearby cemetery at that time of the blast, around 6:59 p.m. »
« The misfired rocket hit the parking lot outside the hospital. Were it an airstrike, there would have been a crater there; instead, the fiery blast came from the misfired rocket’s warhead and its unspent propellant, » said the IDF spokesperson.
« We were operating in the hospital, there was a strong explosion, and the ceiling fell on the operating room. This is a massacre, » said Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, a London-based doctor who traveled to Gaza and was at the hospital during the attack.
Paralyzed: « Life in Gaza is paralyzed, with all institutions and private sectors closed, affecting the people’s access to basic needs, particularly health, » the hospital’s director, Suhaila Tarazi, wrote last week, in a plea for help after fighting in the region started on October 7 following Hamas’ single-day massacre of 1,300 Israelis, including civilians.
The primary concern is, of course, the many innocent people who were slaughtered in the hospital attack, and the fact that Gaza’s hospital capacity is further crippled. « If someone doesn’t die from the bombardment, then he’ll die from the lack of medical service, » said the director of Al Shifa Hospital (which is likely to run out of fuel to power generators today) several days ago. Death tolls will rise. Speculation abounds as to who carried out the attack. But the response around the world makes clear that things are about to get worse.
