More than 500 Palestinians have been killed at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike, Gaza’s health ministry says.
The Israeli military has attributed the bombing to a misfired rocket by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, making it one of the deadliest hospital attacks in recent history.
The international community has responded with strong condemnation and numerous protests have erupted outside Israeli embassies across several nations.
Demonstrators have clashed with Palestinian law enforcement in the occupied West Bank, reflecting widespread frustration with the Palestinian Authority’s leadership.
Australian Prime minister Anthony Albanese described the scenes from the hospital as “deeply distressing”.
“Every innocent life matters, whether they are Israeli or Palestinian,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with those killed, those injured and their loved ones.
“The protection of civilian lives must come first as the parliament said in its resolution that we carried on Monday. Respect for international humanitarian law is paramount.
“We condemn any indiscriminate attacks and targeting of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, and Australia joins with others in calling for international law to always be upheld.”
It comes after more than 1,400 people in Israel lost their lives, and 3,400 were injured when Hamas launched a surprise attack by air, land, and sea on October 7, according to sources.
In Gaza, there have been at least 2,778 casualties from Israeli counterattacks, with another 9,938 people getting injured, as reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. These numbers are expected to increase.
US President Joe Biden is en route to Israel for a scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, a planned summit in Amman, which was to include Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders from Jordan and Egypt, has been called off.
It comes after Israel’s military issued a directive on Friday, ordering the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region home to 1.1 million people within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, amid the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict, Australians in Lebanon are being urged to return to their home country. The Australian government is expediting the evacuation of its citizens from the besieged Gaza Strip, as government-organized Qantas flights out of Tel Aviv were canceled on Saturday evening. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that new chartered and military flights were arranged to retrieve Australians from Israel on Sunday.
