Massacre at the hospital in Gaza City with hundreds of deaths, one of the worst massacres of the war which risks inflaming the conflict even further. Hamas immediately accused Israel of striking the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital causing between 200 and 500 deaths. The army on his part he denied any responsibility and blamed the explosion on the failed launch of an Islamic Jihad rocket: “The hospital was not a sensitive building and was not our objective.” But the reaction of the Palestinian and Arab world was vehement: President Abu Mazen canceled the meeting scheduled in Amman with Joe Biden and called three days of national mourning in the West Bank, while the PLO appealed to the international community asking to ” put an end to this massacre.”
Hamas: hospital hit by Israeli raid in Gaza, hundreds dead
Egypt condemned “the Israeli bombing in the strongest terms”, Iran spoke of a “brutal war crime and genocide”, Jordan made it known that it considered the Jewish state “responsible for these dangerous developments”. Own in Amman the street protests exploded in the evening with hundreds of people attacking the Israeli embassy and setting it on fire to the external walls. Whatever the circumstances of the hospital massacre, it is one of the most violent episodes of the ongoing conflict.
This is the situation that the US president will face when he arrives in Jerusalem tomorrow to show solidarity with his leading ally in the Middle East. With something new: Israel’s expected invasion of Gaza is no longer the only “option” in the war against Hamas. “It could be something different,” the Army warned.
It weighs on all the humanitarian drama in the Strip where, according to Save the Children, among the more than 3,000 deaths there are more than 1,000 children killed in Israel’s attacks. The American leader and Prime Minister Netanyahu will have to face the issue of closing the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, with the foreigners still trapped in the Palestinian enclave and the columns of trucks with humanitarian aid stuck on the Egyptian side of the pass. Without forgetting the problem of the 250 Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas and other Palestinian factions.
But above all, a possible widening of the conflict if Israel were to enter ‘boots on the ground’ in Gaza: a threat raised by Iran and its Lebanese Hezbollah allies, who have continued to attack the north of the Jewish state. Tehran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned for example that the extension of the war to other fronts is “inevitably” approaching. For now, the danger does not appear to affect Israel’s determination, even in the context of a possible alternative option to invasion.
The Army announced that it is continuing to implement wide-ranging offensive plans across the South of the country and at the same time in the north facing the threat of Hezbollah. “The fighting” in Gaza “will be conducted in the coming days with great force,” Netanyahu repeated while visiting soldiers in the south. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was equally clear. “Hamas members have two options: surrender or die,” he warned.
This is not an empty threat: the army has killed several high-level leaders and commanders in recent days Hamas. Today – over 200 raids in the Strip occurred during the night alone – it was the turn of the most important of those eliminated so far: the Hamas commander Ayman Nofal (Abu Ahmad), hit by fighter planes in the Bureij refugee camp. Israel also warned Hezbollah. “On our northern border we are on maximum alert. If Hezbollah makes the serious mistake we will react with high power”, warned military spokesman Daniel Hagari.
In Gaza the displaced have now reached the number of one million and the deaths are above 3 thousand, with approximately 12,500 injured. Among those killed, according to figures provided by Save the Children, 1,000 are minors. In Israel the death toll is around 1,400 (301 soldiers) with over 500 thousand displaced from the south and north of the country under the rockets that continue to arrive from Gaza. Police reported that 947 Israeli civilians killed in the Hamas attack were among those killed: 70% of the victims. Among these, one of the 3 missing Italians was identified thanks to DNA testing: Eviatar Moshe Kipnis, 65, killed in the Beeri kibbutz. There is still no news of his wife, Liliach Lea Havron.
To know more
Comment – It’s a war crime, the truth is needed
Reportage – Terror and panic in Gaza: “The explosion like an earthquake, the children went crazy”
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Abu Mazen, no one will take away our land
Palestinian President Abu Mazen, confirming his return to the West Bank due to the cancellation of the Amman summit “after the massacre in Gaza”, states that the Palestinians “will not accept another Nakba of the 21st century”. “We will not leave our land and no one will send us away,” Abu Mazen was quoted as saying by al Jazeera.
Jordan: useless summit if there is no talk of stopping the war
The four-party summit in Jordan, with Joe Biden, Abu Mazen and Abdel Fattah al Sisi on Gaza, “has been canceled because there is no need to talk about anything other than stopping the war”: this was stated by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi quoted by Arab media.
Macron condemns attack on hospital, aid in Gaza immediately
“Nothing can justify an attack on a hospital. Nothing can justify targeting civilians. France condemns the attack on the Al-Ahli Arabi hospital in Gaza which caused so many Palestinian victims. Let’s think of them. It must be done full light”: French President Emmanuel Macron wrote this on X, adding in another tweet: “Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip must be opened without delay”:
Thousands protest outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul
Thousands protested overnight in front of the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul after the raid on the al-Ahly hospital in Gaza City which led to the deaths of hundreds of people. In a video released by Anadolu agency, a crowd of a few thousand people with Palestinian flags can be seen shouting anti-Israel slogans in front of the Israeli Consulate, in the Levent neighborhood, on the European side of the city on the Bosphorus. Demonstrations against Israel, called by various associations, were also held simultaneously in many other Turkish cities, in various parts of the country, such as Trabzon, Erzurum, Konya, Bursa, Edirne, Burdur and Usak.
Sisi condemns Israel’s ‘intentional attack’ on hospital
Israel’s “intentional” attack on a hospital in Gaza “is a clear violation of international law and humanitarian law.” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi wrote this on his Facebook page. “I witnessed the bombing with great suffering, I strongly condemn it. Egypt calls for an immediate stop to these actions”.
Biden condolences for Gaza hospital deaths
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, sent his deepest condolences “for the innocent lives lost in the Gaza hospital explosion”, and wished “a speedy recovery to the injured”
Tajani, dismay and pain for hospital victims in Gaza
“Shock and pain for the hundreds of victims at the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza. The protection of the civilian population, even in a conflict, must be an absolute priority”. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote it on X
Hamas, USA give green light for attack on Gaza hospital
“I believe this crime would not have taken place without the green light from the United States.” Thus Hamas spokesperson, Osama Hamdan, told Al Jazeera regarding the attack on the hospital in Gaza. “It is clear that they are preparing the ground to tell everyone that all the necessary steps have been taken to evacuate Gaza, which will not happen,” he added, “I believe that the Palestinians themselves will not leave, and I believe that the countries Arabs will not accept it. We are witnessing a war crime, not only on the part of the Israelis, but also on the part of the Americans.”
Biden cancels visit to Jordan
US President Joe Biden canceled the Jordanian leg of his one-day visit to the Middle East after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said they would no longer attend the summit, in following the destruction of the hospital in Gaza. The Israeli newspaper ‘Haaretz’ writes it.
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