500 Killed In Gaza Hospital Attack; Joe Biden’s Meeting With Arab Leaders Called Off

New Delhi: Israel and Palestine are embroiled in a blame game over an explosion at a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday that killed at least 500 people. Local authorities blamed Israeli airstrikes, while Israel alleged it was Hamas rocket misfiring

“Intelligence from multiple sources we have indicates that Islamic Jihad (a Hamas ally) is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza,” the Israeli army said, according to agencies. Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a press conference that during the time of the strike, Israel was not conducting any aerial operations near the hospital and the rockets that were used did not match their equipment.

The Islamic Jihad released a statement that read, “The Zionist enemy is trying hard to evade its responsibility for the brutal massacre he committed by bombing the Baptist Arab National Hospital in Gaza through his usual fabrication of lies, and through pointing the finger of blame at the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine.”

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced that US President Joe Biden’s summit in Amman scheduled to take place on Wednesday with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been cancelled, PTI reported.

Biden said Tuesday he was “outraged” by a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital and had told security advisors to gather more details.