The ministry said hundreds of other victims remained under the rubble...
Gaza: an explosion at a hospital killed at least 500 people on Tuesday, Reuters said quoting the Hamas-run health ministry sources, sparking outrage.
The devastating incident sparked outrage with UN Secretary General saying that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 cannot justify the collective punishment of people. The news also sparked protests across the world, with Jordan, Syria and Turkey condemning the attack. Both Hamas and Israel Defense Forces have blamed each other for the blast, with Hamas blaming it on an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants.
The health ministry in Gaza said the blast at the hospital was caused by an Israeli air raid. Israel has attributed the explosion to a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group. The PIJ has denied the allegation.
The ministry said hundreds of other victims remained under the rubble.
Hamas said the blast mostly killed displaced people.
Saudi Arabia also issued a firm statement, condemning “in the strongest possible terms the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces by bombing Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza”.
Israeli authorities said the hospital was hit by an errant rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which operates inside the Gaza Strip.
However the PIJ has rejected the Israeli allegation that it was responsible for the strike.
“The Zionist enemy is trying hard to evade its responsibility for the brutal massacre he committed by bombing the Baptist Arab National Hospital in Gaza through his usual fabrication of lies, and through pointing the finger of blame at the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine,” it said in a statement.
“We therefore affirm that the accusations put forward by the enemy are false and baseless,” it added.
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