Who is responsible for the bombing of a hospital in Gaza? This evening as many as 500 people are thought to have been killed in one terrible act in a medical building in Gaza.
Thousands of civilians were reportedly sheltering there, after fleeing their homes following an Israeli order to evacuate the northern part of the Gaza strip.
Israel were quick to deny having a role in the attack, blaming Palestinian militants – and a misfired Palestinian rocket barrage – for the disaster.
It follows an incident earlier on Tuesday, when – according to the UN – a school in central Gaza where 4,000 people were sheltering was hit, killing at least six people.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad – at whom the IDF are pointing fingers – have denied responsibility for the blast at the Al-Ahli hospital. The IDF said they do not target civilians, and that their intelligence shows that Islamic Jihad are to blame. Justin Bronk, from the Rusi think tank, has said that the sound of the missile was not typical of an Israeli attack. Palestine’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, has declared three days of mourning and reportedly withdrawn from his meeting with US President Joe Biden.
Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (and who spoke to The Spectator last week), urged caution, saying that ‘Hamas wants to have a propaganda victory, saying Israel has killed innocent civilians’. Regev said there was no evidence to support such a claim.
Joe Biden is visiting Israel on Wednesday and Rishi Sunak will arrive on Thursday. So far, the two leaders have been steadfast in their support for Israel, following the vicious Hamas attacks two weekends ago. How the hospital attack plays out remains to be seen.
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