Israeli air raid on al-Ahli Arab Hospital kills 500, Palestinian health officials say

Israeli bombs have struck a hospital compound in central Gaza, killing 500 people, including patients and displaced Palestinians sheltering inside, according to Gaza officials.

An Israeli air raid caused Wednesday’s blast at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, the health ministry said. Israel blames the explosion on a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

The attack quickly sparked international condemnation, as news outlets and social media were flooded with grotesque  images of burning rooms and heavy stretchers.

“This is outrageous and again it shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II, meanwhile, called the attack a “massacre” and a “shame on humanity”.

The Gaza health ministry issued a statement explaining the hospital had served a vital role in offering shelter to civilians.

“The hospital was housing hundreds of sick and wounded, and people forcibly displaced from their homes,” the ministry said.

Tens of thousands of people have come to Gaza’s overcrowded hospitals in search of safety from what appears to be relentless Israeli army shelling.

Al Jazeera footage from the site showed doctors and citizens using white bags or blankets to rescue remains. In the hospital courtyard, bloodstains and burnt autos could be seen.

Mustafa Barghouti, the political head of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), said Al Jazeera that the hospital attack should make foreign leaders reconsider their support for Israel.

“Nobody in the world even attacks hospitals in any other country of the world,” Barghouti said. “Will they condemn this Israeli massacre? Will they condemn this Israeli behaviour? They know they can stop Israel. They know they can restrain Israel. They are the ones who are giving weapons and money and support to these Israeli aggressors.”

He added that he felt civilian infrastructure was being deliberately targeted in Israeli attacks.

*Credits to Aljazeera news agency