Deir Al-Balah, Gaza:

When girls complain to Gaza paediatrician Lobna al-Azaiza that they have no comb, she tells them to cut off their hair.

It’s not just combs. Israel’s blockade of the territory, ravaged by 10 months of war, means there is little or no shampoo, soap, period products or household cleaning materials.

Waste collection and sewage treatment have also collapsed, and it’s easy to see why contagious diseases that thrive on overcrowding and lack of cleanliness – such as scabies or fungal infections – are on the rise.

“In the past period, the most common disease we have seen was skin rashes, skin diseases, which have many causes, including the overcrowding in the camps, the increased heat inside the tents, the sweating among children, and the lack of sufficient water for bathing,” the doctor said.

Azaiza used to work at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia until Israeli tanks separated the north of the besieged enclave from the south.

Like most of Gaza’s medics, she has adapted and continues to treat patients, walking to work past her own ruined house, demolished by an Israeli strike.

The tent clinic she set up with a small team began by treating children but has by necessity become a practice for whole families, most of whom have also been ordered or bombed out of their homes, like the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

Even the medication that is available is often unaffordable; a tube of simple burn ointment can now cost 200 shekels ($53).

International aid deliveries have been dramatically reduced since Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis.

Israel denies responsibility for delays in getting urgent humanitarian aid in, saying that the UN and others are responsible for its distribution inside the enclave.

Azaiza has little doubt about where the immediate solution lies:

“The border crossing must be opened so that we can bring in medications, as most of the current ones are ineffective: zero effect, there is no effect on the skin diseases that we see.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tel Aviv:

The Israeli army Friday accused Hamas of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as operational centres for directing attacks against Israel, as the war rages in the Palestinian territory.

“Hamas wages war from hospitals” in Gaza, military spokesman Daniel Hagari told journalists, adding that the Islamist group was also using fuel stored in these facilities for carrying out its operations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

As the Israel-Hamas war continues to escalate, a doctor based in Gaza revealed a horrifying ordeal of the time when he was working in the operation theatre and the entire ceiling of the operation theatre fell on them after the hospital was hit by a deadly explosion on Tuesday night. Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic surgeon from London, said that parts of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City were on fire.

“I was in the operating room when the missile struck and the full ceiling of the operating cell fell on us. There were amputated parts. There were people with primary amputations,” he told the BBC.

He added, “40% of all the cases that I’ve seen have been children. A lot of them have been like this, they have lost one or two parents. And unfortunately, these kids have a long, long recovery road in front of them.”

Describing the scene as a “massacre”, he stated, “There’s broken glass everywhere, there are lots of people who are seeking refuge in the hospital.”

The surgeon further informed that water pressure was currently too low to power some of the equipment and that resources were running out quickly.

A strike on the Gaza hospital compound which health officials there said killed at least 500 people, on Tuesday, has sparked outrage around the globe. While the Palestine group Hamas has blamed Israel for the deadly strike, the Israeli Army said the hospital was hit by a rocket misfired by Islamic Jihad, an ally of the Hamas group. Following the hospital bombing, US President Joe Biden, who arrived in Israel that day, spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “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,” Biden said in a statement.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) termed the hospital strike as “unprecedented in its scale”, adding that 115 healthcare facilities in Gaza have been attacked, leaving most of the city’s hospitals out of operation.

Paris:

A blast at a Gaza hospital was not the result of an Israeli missile strike, but likely caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket, the French military intelligence directorate (DRM) said on Friday.

Palestinian officials said 471 people were killed in the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital on Tuesday. Gaza’s health ministry blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by militants.

“There is nothing that allows us to say that it is an Israeli strike, but the most likely (scenario) is a Palestinian rocket that had a firing incident,” the DRM said.

An unclassified U.S. intelligence report seen by Reuters on Thursday said it judged that Israel was not responsible for the blast and estimated the death toll at 100-300 people.

According to the DRM, the impact crater was too small to have been caused by an Israeli missile.

“The most likely hypothesis is a Palestinian rocket, which exploded with a charge of about 5 kilos,” the DRM told reporters, adding that Palestinian groups had small-calibre rockets with that sort of explosive charge.

The DRM does not usually release such information, but on the instruction of President Emmanuel Macron decided to make its findings public given the contrasting accounts about who is responsible.

It ruled out various possibilities, including fragments from Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system or intercepted missiles being the cause.

Part of the analysis was based on open-source material ranging from the light structural damage at the hospital, including some broken windows, few destroyed vehicles and the relatively limited presence of civilian belongings at the blast site.

The DRM could not give the exact departing point of the failed rocket and did not place blame on any specific group.

It declined to estimate the death toll, but said that it was likely to be fewer than 471 given the impact.

Israel has responded to an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas gunmen who killed 1,400 Israelis by vowing to destroy the group, putting the 2.3 million people living in Gaza under siege. Strikes against the enclave have killed more than 4,100 people and left more than a million homeless.

Israel is also preparing a ground offensive.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The US intelligence community has estimated there were likely 100 to 300 people killed in the strike at the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, according to excerpts of a document seen Thursday by AFP — far fewer than the nearly 500 deaths that health authorities in the Hamas-ruled enclave originally described.

An unclassified US intelligence assessment, provided to AFP by a Capitol Hill source, estimates the number of people killed at the hospital Tuesday night at the “low end of the 100-to-300 spectrum.”

“We are still assessing the likely casualty figures and our assessment may evolve, but this death toll still reflects a staggering loss of life,” the document said.

“The United States takes seriously the deaths of all civilians, and is working intensively to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” the document said.

The strike occurred at around 1700 GMT Tuesday, when the health ministry in Gaza said an Israeli air strike had hit the Christian-run Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza City.

Gaza officials have said at least 471 people were killed in the blast, with more than 300 wounded.

Hamas has accused an Israeli air strike for the killings, while Israeli army has blamed a misfired rocket from another Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad.

According to the US intelligence document, “Israel probably did not bomb (the) Gaza Strip hospital,” and that the United States is continuing “to work to corroborate whether the explosion resulted from a failed PIJ (Palestine Islamic Jihad) rocket.”

The document also says there was “only light structural damage at the hospital,” with “no observable damage to the main hospital building and no impact craters.”

AFP correspondents at the scene saw dozens of bodies, with medics and civilians recovering bodies wrapped in white cloth, blankets or black plastic bags.

Bloodstains and torched cars could be seen in the hospital courtyard.

Images of the hospital after the strike published by the Maxar satellite monitoring group show the hospital buildings mainly appeared to be intact.

Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus has also disputed the Hamas-run ministry’s figures, asking “where are all the bodies?”

Hamas has dismissed Israel’s position, saying its “outrageous lies do not deceive anyone.”

The United States’ death toll estimate is higher than the 50 people that a senior European intelligence source previously told AFP he believed had been killed.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said there is “no excuse for hitting a hospital full of civilians” in Gaza, but has not apportioned blame for the blast.

Gaza has been hit by a relentless barrage of Israeli fire in retaliation for a Hamas militant attack on October 7, which Israel says killed at least 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Israeli bombing since has killed at least 3,785 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.  

Tens of thousands of families have sought refuge from the bombardment in and around Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Palestinians check the place of the explosion at al-Ahli hospital, in Gaza City, on October 18, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

As many as 30 Muslim bodies under the banner of Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on October 18, condemned the bombing of a hospital in Palestine’s Gaza “in an Israeli air strike”. The National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also expressed their concern.  

A spokesman of the MMU, in a joint statement, said the religious groups express “shock and outrage” at the bombing of a hospital in Gaza”, which left around 500 Palestinians, including children, dead.

Gaza’s doctors struggle to save hospital attack survivors as West Asia rage grows

“People of Jammu & Kashmir are deeply saddened as well as pained by this unfolding tragedy and stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. The massacre of Palestinians at the hospital is a blatant war crime under United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions,” the spokesman said.

The MMU urged the United Nations and the world powers “to move beyond blame game and partisanship”. “They need to see what is happening in Gaza, for what it is, a humanitarian crisis . The war against hapless Palestinian citizens should be stopped and a resolution to this long-term conflict immediately sought, which restores the rights of Palestinian people to their life and land,” it said.

Joining the condemnation, former J&K chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, in a post on X, said, “A tragic reminder of what must have happened during the Holocaust. Perhaps the only difference is that the very community that the victims belonged to are now the oppressors and gas chambers have been replaced by bombs. Half of the world’s terrorism is a reaction to the unresolved issue of Palestine. Will the powers that be continue being mute bystanders or wake up to the grim reality so that innocents aren’t killed anymore?”

Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister and NC president Dr. Farooq Abdullah expressed concern over India’s “meek stand”. “India since (former Prime Minister) Jawaharlal Nehru’s time supported Palestine and stood against oppression of Palestinians. It’s unfortunate the same voices do not come forward to Palestine’s support in India anymore. History stands witness that Jews took over the land of Palestinians in Palestine and expanded their territory,” Dr. Abdullah said. 

People inspect the area of Al-Ahli hospital on October 18, 2023, where hundreds of Palestinians were killed following an air strike that Israeli and Palestinian officials have blamed on each other.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

European leaders reacted to the death of hundreds of civilians at the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza on Monday evening. Israel has claimed a misfired missile by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad caused the destruction while militant group Hamas, which governs the Gaza strip, has blamed an Israeli air strike for the event.

“France condemns the attack on the Al-Ahli Arabi hospital in Gaza which caused so many Palestinian victims,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X (formerly, Twitter), late on Monday night. Mr. Macron said that nothing justified an attack on a hospital or on civilians and called for clarity around the circumstances of the attack.

Israel-Hamas war updates — October 18, 2023

The French President urged access to Gaza for delivering humanitarian aid. The strip of land has been sealed off by Israel in the north and Egypt in the south.

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, also called for culpability for the crime to be established and accountability for the violence.

“Once again, innocent civilians pay the highest price,” he said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was shocked by the images from the hospital. ”Our hearts are with the families of the victims. It is important that all facts of this incident are disclosed very accurately,” he wrote in Arabic on X.

U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly suggested on Tuesday morning that he was not blaming Israel for the attack.

Also read | PM Modi expresses outrage at hospital bombing in Gaza Strip

“Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital,” he wrote on X.

“Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk,” he said, urging people to stay calm and await the facts. On Monday night he had said that the protection of civilian lives must be the top priority and that the U.K. and its allies would “find out” what had happened.

Mr Cleverly’s tweet on Tuesday morning came shortly after news broke that U.S. President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was not responsible for the attack.

“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Mr Biden said during a visit to Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates:

A Gaza hospital strike that killed at least 200 people has unleashed a torrent of condemnation across the Arab world, with even allies blaming Israel for the attack, despite its denials.

The denunciations coincided with angry rallies in Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Iran and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with more planned on Wednesday following calls for a “day of rage” across the region.

Israel and Palestinian terrorists have traded blame for the hospital strike on Tuesday night, with the Israeli army saying on Wednesday it had “evidence” that terrorists were responsible.

But the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which both established ties with Israel in the Abraham Accords of 2020, condemned the “Israeli” attack which came as Israel lays siege to Gaza.

“The United Arab Emirates strongly condemns the Israeli attack… resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of people,” the UAE’s official WAM news agency said early on Wednesday.

Bahrain’s foreign ministry “expressed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s condemnation and strong denunciation of the Israeli bombing”, the Bahrain News Agency said.

Morocco, another country that recognised Israel in 2020, also blamed it for the strike, as did Egypt, which became the first Arab country to normalise relations in 1979.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned in the strongest terms “the Israeli bombing” of the Ahli Arab hospital, which led to “the deaths of hundreds of innocent victims” among the Palestinian citizens in Gaza.

He called the “deliberate bombing” a “clear violation of international law”.

Saudi Arabia, which has ended talks on potential ties with Israel since the Israel-Hamas war flared, called the blast a “heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces”.

‘War crime’

Jordan said Israel “bears responsibility for this grave incident” while Qatar, which has close ties to Hamas, slammed the “brutal massacre”.

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference, also blaming Israel, called it “a war crime, a crime against humanity, and organised state terrorism”.

Gulf Cooperation Council secretary general Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said it was “glaring evidence of the serious violations by the Israeli occupation forces”.

The Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit called on Tuesday for leaders to “stop this tragedy immediately”.

“What diabolical mind intentionally bombards a hospital and its defenceless inhabitants?” he wrote on X, previously Twitter.

The strike came during a wave of deadly Israeli air strikes on Gaza following an attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas that killed 1,400 people.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement called for a “day of rage” against Israel following the attack as hundreds rallied at the US and French embassies overnight, where they scuffled with security forces.

More protests are planned for Wednesday, with Lebanon joining other Arab states in declaring a day of national mourning.

Iraq, which also blamed Israeli authorities, demanded an “immediate and urgent resolution” from the UN Security Council to stop Israel’s Gaza onslaught, as hundreds protested in the capital Baghdad, brandishing Palestinian flags.

Algeria condemned the strike as a “barbaric act” carried out by “occupation forces.”

Libya’s Tripoli-based internationally recognised government called the hospital strike a “despicable crime” as several hundred people protested in Tripoli and other Libyan cities.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A massive explosion ripped through a hospital in Gaza, killing over 500 people and drawing widespread condemnation globally. Israel claimed a rocket launched by Islamic Jihad (a group affiliated with Hamas) misfired and hit the hospital, while Hamas said Israel conducted airstrikes on innocent Gazans.

Irrespective of the claims and counter-claims, it was children and the elderly in a hospital who died in the bombing.

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, in a video message, said “I’m horrified to see the bombing of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza and unequivocally condemn it.”

I’m horrified to see the bombing of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza and unequivocally condemn it. I urge the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and reiterate the call for a ceasefire. I am directing $300K to three charities helping Palestinian people under attack. pic.twitter.com/JiIPfnTUvY

— Malala Yousafzai (@Malala) October 17, 2023

“I’m adding my voice to those from Israel, Palestine and those around the world crying out for peace. Collective punishment is not the answer. Half of Gaza’s population is less than 18 years of age and they should not be living the rest of their life under bombing and unjust occupation,” Ms Yousafzai said.

She urged the Israeli government to let humanitarian aid go into Gaza, adding that she would donate $300,000 (Rs 2.5 crore) to three charities helping the people of Palestine in this crisis and urged people to provide aid to such charities.

The Nobel laureate urged governments to work for an immediate ceasefire and enduring peace.

Global Condemnation

US President Joe Biden, who is visiting Israel, backed the latter’s claim that a rocket launched by Islamic Jihad misfired and hit the hospital, but in the same breath, also condemned the attack and said: “I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “Deeply shocked at the tragic loss of lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza”, adding, “Civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict are a matter of serious and continuing concern. Those involved should be held responsible.”

Russia said that the blast at a Gaza hospital compound that health officials said killed hundreds of people was a “crime” and an “act of dehumanisation”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the situation in Gaza is spiralling out of control and said, “Every second we wait to get medical aid in, we lose lives.”

People inspect inside a church within the premises of Al-Ahli hospital where hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other, and where Palestinians who fled their homes were sheltering amid the ongoing conflict with Israel, in Gaza City, October 18, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Expressing shock over the tragic loss of lives in an attack on a hospital in Gaza, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 18 said civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict were a serious concern and those involved should be held responsible.

According to media reports, the Hamas group said a massive explosion at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people on October 17. Hamas attributed the blast to an Israeli air strike, but the Israeli military said it was not involved and the explosion was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.

“Deeply shocked at the tragic loss of lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, and prayers for speedy recovery of those injured,” Mr. Modi said on X.

“Civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict are a serious and continuing concern. Those involved should be held responsible,” the Prime Minister said.

Hostilities between Israel and Hamas began after armed Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip launched an unprecedented attack on Israel by land, air, and sea on October 7. Since the start of hostilities, as many as 2,778 Palestinians have been killed.

Media reports have cited official Israeli sources as saying that at least 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel.