A blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday quickly escalated tensions in the Near East as Palestinian militants and the Israeli government accused one another of civilian casualties. On Wednesday, United States government officials weighed in to say that Israel’s involvement in the deadly incident appears unlikely.
“While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza,” the statement added.
Hamas, meanwhile, quickly called the strike “genocide,” according to Fox News reporterTrey Yingst.
Palestinians inspect a destroyed building after Israeli airstrikes on Oct. 14.Abed Rahim Khatib/picture alliance via Getty
Abed Rahim Khatib/picture alliance via Getty
The explosion came amid Israeliairstrikesin Gaza, which began in the wake of terrorist group Hamas' deadly surpriseattack on Israeli civilianson Oct. 7. Israel vowed to defend itself following the attacks, calling for the immediate evacuation of 1.1 million civilians in Gaza City ahead of planned strikes.
The evacuation orders followed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s own announcement that Israel was “putting a complete siege on Gaza," which would mean “no electricity, no food, no water, no gas" for the area, according to astatementposted on X last week.
Many have evacuated to area hospitals, including the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital — the facility that was damaged on Tuesday,The New York Timesreports.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) quickly pushed back on reports that they were behind an intentional strike on the hospital, telling Fox News reporter Trey Yingst in a statement: “A hospital is a highly sensitive building and is not an IDF target. The IDF is investigating the source of the explosion and, like always, is prioritizing accuracy and reliability.”
Amid airstrikes, hospitals in Gaza are struggling to keep up with an excess of patients and running low on supplies as they try to treat civilians, according to reports. One doctor treating patients at Nasser Hospital — the second-largest in Gaza City — told NBC News that the location has opened “tents” outside of the hospital to treat more patients and that the hospital ultimately had to decide “if these tents will have to be for the critical patients, patient post-op, or the patient who will go after finishing their management.”
Doctors and hospital staffers have also told reporters that fuel is running low and internet access is at risk, potentially putting the hospitals in Gaza in further jeopardy.
Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty
TheWorld Health Organizationsaid last week that local hospitals in Gaza were at their “breaking point,” with fuel “due to run out,” shortages of medical supplies, and a focus on “lifesaving emergency care,” impacting those who require other “essential health services.”
WHO also said they have documented 34 “attacks on health care in Gaza since last Saturday,” which killed 11 health workers, injured 16 and damaged 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances.
Meanwhile, theAssociated Pressreports that one hospital’s morgue, which typically holds 30 bodies at a time, had overflown on Thursday, with bodies being stacked on top of each other, some in the parking lot, as a nurse called the site a “graveyard.”
source: people.com
