An Israeli air strike has hit Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City where thousands of civilians are seeking medical treatment and shelter from relentless attacks.
The Gaza health ministry said at least 500 people died in the hospital blast. A United Nations-run school housing refugees was also hit.
Previous instances of Israeli targeting schools, hospitals
Israel’s attack on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza is not the first time the Israeli army has targeted schools and hospitals – spaces traditionally considered safe havens during a war.
Earlier this month, Israel targeted a school run by UNRWA — the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — in the Gaza Strip. According to UNRWA, at least four schools in Gaza have suffered damage from Israeli bombing since the start of the war between Hamas and Israeli forces on October 7, making schools no longer safe spaces.
Previous to the latest round of fighting, the Israeli military struck al-Fakhura School in the Jabalia Camp in the Gaza Strip on January 6, 2009. More than 40 people were killed in the incident, according to UN estimates.
During the 2014 Gaza-Israel war, another school, also in Jabalia Camp in Gaza, that was being used to shelter Palestinian families was shelled by Israeli forces. Five shells fired by Israeli forces during the night killed at least 15 people, mostly children and women, and injured more than 100 others.
Abbas comments ‘too little, too late’, professor says
Abdel Hamid Abdel Jaber, a professor of political science and Middle East studies at Rutgers University in the US, says Abbas’ comments are slightly “too little, too late”.
“He should have spoken much earlier,” Abdel Jabber told Al Jazeera. “Abbas should have come [out] from the beginning, putting all the blame on Israel, calling on his people to unite.”
He pointed out that dozens of Palestinians also have been killed in the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out, “and yet [Abbas] was not visible” until tonight. “At least now he has to give this lengthy statement,” Abdel Jabber added.
Tear gas, water cannons fired at protesters outside US Embassy in Beirut
Angry protesters are now trying to break through the security barriers at the US Embassy in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, according to Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from the scene.
Khodr described the scene as “chaotic”, and said the anger of the pro-Palestinian protesters was not just directed towards Israel but also the US for its seemingly unconditional support for Israel since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
Hezbollah has already called for a day of anger on Wednesday following the Gaza hospital attack.
Abbas: No Nakba in the 21st century
Abbas confirms he will not be meeting Biden in Amman and says that “given the massacre that took place tonight” he decided to return to the occupied West Bank and be with his people.
Abbas added that the Palestinians would not accept another Nakba in the 21st century and that they will not move, or surrender.
“We will not leave our homeland nor allow anyone to expel us from there,” Abbas added.
More from Jordan’s foreign minister
“War is not going to bring anything but more suffering, more death, more destruction. It will not produce security, neither for the Israelis nor for the Palestinians.
“It threatens the security of the whole region, with a real threat of it expanding and spilling over.
“We have to understand the impact this war is having, not just on the immediate victims, the Gazans. You have to understand that this war is also provoking Arab, Muslim, Christian public opinion – human opinion, public opinion – all over the world.
“Our people are out on the streets right now. About 18,000 Jordanians are out on the street expressing their anger at the catastrophe, this aggression on Gazans.
Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸
@jacksonhinklle
🇯🇴🇺🇸 The King of Jordan has CANCELLED his upcoming meeting with President Biden.
CGTN
@CGTNOfficial
White House official says after consulting with King of Jordan, Biden canceling Jordan stop
#CGTNAmerica
Sprinter
@Sprinter99800
King of Jordan cancels summit with Joe Biden
Earlier, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said that he would not negotiate with the American president until the war in the Gaza Strip was stopped
https://twitter.com/i/status/1714330247733395697
Al Jazeera English
@AJEnglish
The Middle East is at the edge of an “abyss”, the King of Jordan warned, as fears grow the Israel-Gaza war could drag in other nations and armed groups.
⚡️⚡️⚡️#BREAKING NEWS | They write that in the video, Palestinians in #Jerusalem armed themselves and took an oath to #Allah
🚨❗️ The #King of #Jordan called the hospital explosion in #Gaza a “massacre” and a “war crime”
🚨‼️In addition, #Iran, #Iraq and #Lebanon, together with… pic.twitter.com/O7nwKfFDfW
— WTF-NeW (@WTFNeW8) October 17, 2023
