Israeli airstrike kills hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza hospital, health authorities say; IDF denies involvement

File photo/AFP

An Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday killed hundreds of Palestinians, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, as reported by ANI quoting Reuters.

The health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that over 800 people were killed in the air raid on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza.

The Hamas group, which governs the Palestinian territory, said the attack was a "war crime".

The World Health Organization condemned the attack and demanded the immediate protection of civilians and health care in the Palestinian enclave.

"WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital", the UN health agency's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the social media platform X.

Egypt said it denounced the attack "in the strongest terms". Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "It's not acceptable to hit a hospital".

Reports from Gaza said the area where the air raid hit was "full of displaced people".

Also read: Gaza aid stuck at border as Israeli shelling continues

US President Joe Biden has said that he is "outraged and deeply saddened" by it, the White House said in a statement.

The White House quoted Joe Biden, stating, "I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted."

Jordan said it cancelled a summit with US President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after the deadly Israeli strike at the hospital. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas earlier withdrew from the meeting.

Associated Press quoting a senior Palestinian official reported that President Mahmoud Abbas has cancelled his participation in the meeting scheduled with President Joe Biden and other Mideast leaders.

Abbas was scheduled to join Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at Wednesday's summit in Amman, Jordan, where they were to discuss the latest Israel-Hamas war with Biden.

But the senior official said Abbas was withdrawing to protest the Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Hospital that killed over 500 people.

Meanwhile, after massive outrage, the Israeli military said it was not involved in the strike at the Gaza City hospital. The Israeli military, however, said Palestinian militants had fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital at the time. (With inputs from agencies)