‘Situation in Gaza spiraling out of control’

GENEVA: The situation in the Gaza Strip is spiraling out of control, the head of the UN health agency warned on Wednesday, following a blast at a hospital that killed hundreds of people.

“The situation in #Gaza is spiraling out of control,” the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter. “We need violence on all sides to stop.”

Fiery day A Lebanese protester sits outside the US Embassy as a fire rages behind its gates after clashes with Lebanese security forces on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, East of Beirut, following a blast ripped through a hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 200 people on October 17. AFP photo

“Every second we wait to get medical aid in, we lose lives,” he added. “We need immediate access to start delivering life-saving supplies.”

A blast ripped through a Gaza hospital killing hundreds of people late Tuesday.

Health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said the explosion at the Ahli Arab Hospital killed between 200-300 people and was caused by the latest in a wave of Israeli airstrikes.

Hamas said in a statement 500 had died.

Israeli Defense Forces blamed Palestinian militants, saying an outgoing Islamic Jihad rocket misfired.

Neither account could be independently corroborated.

Bombing evidence

The Israeli army said Wednesday it had “evidence” that militants were responsible for the blast that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital, saying a review proved others were at fault.

“The evidence — which we are sharing with you all — confirms that the explosion at the hospital in Gaza was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press conference in Tel Aviv.

The comments came after an explosion at a Gaza hospital compound on Tuesday evening killed at least 200 people, according to health officials in the war-torn enclave, sparking protests across the Middle East and wide-ranging condemnation.

“There was no IDF (Israeli army) fire by land, sea or air that hit the hospital,” Hagari said.

“Our radar system tracked missiles fired by terrorists in Gaza at the time of the explosion and the trajectory analysis of the rockets shows the rockets were fired in close proximity to the hospital.”

Following the blast, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs the territory, pinned the blame on Israel.

The war of words continued on Wednesday with Hamas firing back at Israel’s latest comments about the strike, saying “its outrageous lies do not deceive anyone.”