Gaza authorities say hundreds killed in Israeli air raid on hospital

Palestinian health ministry says that at least 500 people have been killed in an attack on a hospital in central Gaza.

Hundreds of people have been killed in an Israeli air raid on a hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian authorities.

The health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 500 people were killed in the air raid on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza.

The Hamas group, which governs the Palestinian territory, said the attack was a “war crime”. 

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said there were no details on the hospital deaths.

“We will get the details and update the public. I don’t know to say whether it was an Israeli air strike,” he said.

Images shared on social media appeared to show fire engulfing the building, widespread damage and bodies scattered in the wreckage.

Since Israel began pounding Gaza from the air on October 7, tens of thousands of people seeking refuge from the bombardment have fled to hospitals throughout Gaza.

The World Health Organization condemned the attack and demanded the immediate protection of civilians and health care in the Palestinian enclave.

“WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital”, the UN health agency’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the social media platform X.

Egypt said it denounced the attack “in the strongest terms”. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “It’s not acceptable to hit a hospital”.