Palestinian officials said an Israeli airstrike was responsible for the blast, while Israel said Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza launched a rocket that hit the site.
Senior Arab officials have claimed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has cancelled his planned meeting with United States President Joe Biden after a strike on a Gazan hospital.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil urged Australians in the Middle East to evacuate immediately in light of the rapidly deteriorating conflict, warning terror could spread within the nation.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images(TEL AVIV, Israel) At least 500 people have been killed in a strike on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the middle of Gaza City, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The hospital served as a shelter for thousands of residents who fled their homes in northern Gaza, seeking safety from Israeli airstrikes. Residents stranded in Gaza are running out of medicine, food, water and power.
The Israel Defense Forces denied responsibility for the attack, saying a failed launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad caused the blast.
"From the analysis of the operational systems of the IDF, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit," IDF said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "The barbaric terrorists in Gaza are the ones who attacked the hospital."
However, U.S. officials at this point "just don t know where the rocket came from," a senior U.S. o