This single strike could have serious consequences in the current unprecedented conflict between Israel and Hamas. While the Jewish state is currently carrying out military reprisals after the unprecedented terrorist attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel on October 7, the list of civilian victims of the conflict grew further last night.
On Tuesday evening, local authorities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip reported that a rocket strike on the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City killed at least 200 Palestinians, although the exact toll was not known. is not yet known. This number is added to the more than 4,000 deaths since the start of the conflict, the majority of them civilians. An explosion which provoked numerous international condemnations, and for which Israel and Hamas deny each other responsibility.
The results and origin of the shooting still remain unclear
Eleven days after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, death this time came from the sky: “We were operating in the hospital, there was a strong explosion and the ceiling fell on the room operation”, says Doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah in a press release from the NGO Médecins sans frontières (MSF).
Less than 24 hours after the announcement of this strike, the human toll is already high. “200 to 300” people are dead” and “hundreds of victims are still in the rubble” of the Ahli Arab hospital, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, under Hamas control. This Wednesday, October 18 , the movement now evokes a death toll of more than 500 victims, indicates AFP.
The explosion at this hospital in the center of Gaza City was also confirmed by the Palestinian Red Crescent, which denounced a “war crime” having caused “hundreds” of civilian victims, “including women, children, health workers. A shooting also denounced by the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem, which manages the Gazan hospital, denouncing a “crime against humanity” which occurred “during Israeli strikes”.
Since the Hamas attack on its territory on October 7, Jerusalem has bombarded this 362 square kilometer Palestinian enclave daily. In addition to a land blockade put in place in 2007, Israel has imposed a siege on the territory since October 9, depriving the 2.4 million Gazans of water, food and electricity. Strikes which, according to the UN, led to the displacement of a million people, many of whom found refuge in hospitals.
Despite this context, the origin of the strike that hit the Ahli Arab hospital still remains unclear. As soon as it was announced, the Islamist movement Hamas in power in Gaza accused Israel of being at the origin of this shot. The Israeli army, however, affirmed that “according to information from the intelligence services […] “Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket attack which hit the hospital”. This other Palestinian armed group for its part described these statements as “lies”, before in turn accusing Israel.
Unanimous international condemnation
If an army spokesperson affirmed on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday that Israel would provide evidence against its accusations in the coming hours, neighboring countries seem unanimous on its responsibility in the attack on the hospital. Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Amman in Jordan, Istanbul in Turkey, Tunis in Tunisia, Beirut in Lebanon and in front of the French and British embassies in Tehran in Iran.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi also declared a day of “public mourning” on Wednesday, believing that this strike would turn against Israel and its American ally. For its part, Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and financed by Iran, also called for Wednesday to observe a “day of anger” to condemn the “massacre” of which it accuses Israel. Another regional heavyweight, Saudi Arabia denounced a “violation of all international laws and standards”, denouncing Israel’s continuation of “attacks against civilians”.
Jordan, which also accuses Israel, announced the cancellation of a summit in which American President Joe Biden was to participate this Wednesday with his Egyptian counterpart and the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Joe Biden also announced “postpone” his visits planned for the same day to Israel and Jordan, saying he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion” in a White House press release.
A condemnation shared by the European Union and France. President Emmanuel Macron denounced the strike on the hospital and stressed that “nothing can justify targeting civilians.” He also called for access to the Gaza Strip to be opened “without delay” for humanitarian aid.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, who is due to go to Egypt on the border with the Gaza Strip on Thursday to negotiate this possible humanitarian support, also said on Tuesday evening that he was “horrified” by the attack on Tuesday evening. He recalled “that hospitals and medical personnel are under the protection of international humanitarian law.” The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday, and will decide just before on a resolution supported by Brazil to try to find a common position on the conflict.