Gaza authorities said an Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed about 500 people at a hospital in the Palestinian enclave, but Israel said a Palestinian militant rocket had caused the blast.
The death toll was by far the highest of any single incident in Gaza during Israel’s intense 11-day bombing campaign, triggering protests in the occupied West Bank, Istanbul and Amman.
The health minister in the Hamas-run government of Gaza, Mai Alkaila, accused Israel of “a massacre” at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital. A spokesperson for the Israeli military said analysis by its operational system showed “an enemy rocket barrage” aimed at Israel was passing the hospital at the time of the strike and blamed the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.
A Gaza health ministry official said 500 people were killed. Hamas said the blast mostly killed displaced people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “barbaric terrorists” in Gaza had attacked the Gaza hospital, not Israel’s military.
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