Hospital attack in Gaza sparks escalates tensions in Middle East

A Gaza hospital in Palestine was attacked, killing at least 500 people, on Tuesday (local time), just before U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel. Islamic militant group Hamas denounced the attack as “massacre of Israel.” At the same time, Israel denied involvement, blaming the attack on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, a rival Islamist militant group in Gaza.

In the wake of the attack, U.S. President Biden’s meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II, and Egyptian President Abdulfattah Sisi, in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Wednesday to discuss solutions to the situation in the Middle East, was canceled. With anti-Israel and anti-American protests in the Middle East and North Africa spreading, President Biden's plans to deter escalation of war are off to a shaky start.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that more than 500 people, including patients and refugees, were killed in the rocket bombing of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. At least hundreds of people were reportedly injured, and many citizens were trapped under the rubble of the building. Casualties are expected to increase as rescue operations within Gaza have become difficult due to continued Israeli airstrikes and supply blockades since the outbreak of the attacks started on Oct. 7.

Hamas defined the air strike as an unprecedented genocide and declared retaliation, saying, “It cannot no longer remain silent.“ PA President Abbas, who had previously condemned Hamas, also declared a three-day mourning period and quickly returned from Amman to the West Bank.

Israel claimed that the bombing was due to a failed rocket launch by PIJ, known to be more hard-lined than Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly claimed that PIJ was responsible, saying that it was barbaric terrorists that attacked the hospital.” Israel decided to investigate to prove that it had nothing to do with the attack.

Amid growing criticism of the international community on civilian casualties, the recent attack puts Israel, which was trying to weigh the timing of deploying ground troops to Gaza, in a tight spot.


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