International Desk: An explosion killed hundreds of people on Tuesday at a hospital in Gaza City that was packed with people sheltering there, Gazan officials said, as Palestinians and Israelis blamed each other for a tragedy that inflamed the region just as President Biden was expected to arrive in Israel.
Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, said an Israeli airstrike had caused the blast at the Ahli Arab Hospital. Hours later, Israeli officials said that one of the rockets fired at Israel by Palestinian militants had failed shortly after launch, causing what could be the deadliest single incident of the 10-day-old war.
The Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday night that the blast at the hospital had resulted from a failed rocket launch by Islamic Jihad, a group allied with Hamas. Islamic Jihad denied the allegation.
In the past, rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups, including Islamic Jihad, have occasionally malfunctioned and hit civilian neighborhoods.
A spokeswoman for the Gazan health ministry put the toll at 500 or more dead, which the ministry later changed to “hundreds.” No figure could be confirmed independently, but images from the hospital, which is run by the Anglican Church, and witness accounts made clear that it was high.
The disaster immediately raised the stakes for Mr. Biden, who is expected to arrive on Wednesday in Israel on a trip to meet with regional leaders in an attempt to de-escalate the crisis. He was scheduled to continue on to Amman to meet with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt, as well as Mr. Abbas, but that meeting was called off late Tuesday.
Shortly before taking off for Israel on Air Force One, Mr. Biden said he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted.” He said he had directed his national security team to look into what had happened.
Israeli planes have been pummeling Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre and kidnapping of Israelis. The bombing campaign and Israel’s directive to evacuate northern Gaza, including Gaza City, have displaced hundreds of thousands of people, killed or wounded thousands, and left people throughout the territory perilously low on water, food, fuel and medicine.