Someone caused a terrible explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in the Gaza Strip today. Hamas claims it was an Israeli airstrike; the Israelis claim they didn’t fire anything in that area and that the explosion was likely a Hamas rocket misfiring, although they also pledged to investigate further. (Reportedly, one minute before the explosion at the hospital Hamas announced on “its own Telegram channel that they were launching their strongest rockets at the northern Israeli city of Haifa. However, no interceptions or impacts were detected near Haifa.”) There is video of the explosion here.
There’s reason to doubt the accuracy of the Gaza Health Ministry’s quick announcement that more than 500 people were killed, but an explosion of that scale, in a crowded urban environment, undoubtedly killed a lot of people. Photos on the scene showed dozens of bodies covered in tarps.
No matter which side caused the explosion and loss of life, tonight most Palestinians and their allies will choose to believe that the Israelis intentionally struck the hospital, and already high tensions will be even higher. Hamas will no doubt aim to retaliate against the Israels in some additional forms.
In light of all this… is tomorrow really the best day for President Biden to fly into Tel Aviv?