Part of the Israel–Hamas war | |
Location of the hospital in the Gaza Strip | |
Date | 17 October 2023 c. 6:59–7:00 p.m.[1][2] |
---|---|
Location | Zeitoun, Gaza, Gaza Strip |
Coordinates | 31°30′17.6″N 34°27′41.9″E / 31.504889°N 34.461639°E |
Deaths |
|
Non-fatal injuries | 314 (Gaza Health Ministry)[5] |
On 17 October 2023, an explosion took place in the parking lot of the courtyard of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City during the Israel–Hamas war, resulting in a large number of displaced Palestinians seeking shelter there being killed or injured.
Reports of the number of deaths vary widely. The Gaza Health Ministry reported 342 injured and 471 killed. The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem, which manages the hospital, reported 200 people killed. US intelligence agencies assessed a death toll between 100 and 300. A report by Human Rights Watch also questioned the Health Ministry's casualty figures.[6] The cause of the explosion is contested. Israel, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada said that their intelligence sources indicate the cause of the explosion was a failed rocket launch from within Gaza by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Hamas and PIJ stated the explosion was caused by an Israeli airstrike.
The consensus from various independent studies of videos, images, and eyewitness reports of the explosion, its aftermath, and the blast area suggested that an errant rocket launch from within Gaza was the most probable cause. While this was not a conclusive finding, an errant rocket was considered the likeliest explanation a week after the incident based on the evidence gathered in investigations conducted by the Associated Press, CNN, The Economist, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal.[7] In late November 2023, the Human Rights Watch also stated that the available evidence made an Israeli airstrike "highly unlikely".[6]
Abu-Selmia
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search