Horrified by killing of hundreds of Palestinians: UN chief on Gaza blast

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the Gaza hospital explosion incident and said that he is "horrified" by the killings of Palestinian civilians.

In a strong condemnation, Guterres said, "I am horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital in Gaza today, which I strongly condemn," the UN posted on X on Wednesday.

"Hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law," the post said.

"@antonioguterres after hundreds of civilians are killed in strike on hospital in Gaza on Tuesday," it added.

After an explosion that struck Gaza hospital on Tuesday and killed hundreds of people, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel Defense Forces operational systems have indicated that rockets were fired by terrorists in Gaza.

Netanyahu said that intelligence from several sources revealed that Islamic Jihad was responsible for the unsuccessful rocket launch.

"An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit," he posted on social media platform X.

"Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza," he added.

"The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF," Netanyahu said in another post on X. "Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children," he added.

Following the blast, condemnation has been pouring from all across the world.

US President Joe Biden said that he feels "outraged and deeply saddened" over the Gaza hospital blast.

"I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted," a White House press release read.

The US President, upon hearing the news, called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah II to discuss it.

"Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened," the release quoted Biden as saying.

" The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy," he added.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, told CNN that the IDF "does not target hospitals."

"We only target Hamas strongholds, arms depots, and terror targets," he added.Heinrich made his remarks after Palestinian sources said that initial estimates suggest an Israeli attack on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City resulted in 200 to 300 fatalities.

An Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday claimed the lives of hundreds of people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, as reported by Reuters.A Gaza civil defence chief stated on Al-Jazeera television that over 300 people were killed in the explosion at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital.

Initially, at least 500 deaths were reported, according to a source from the Gaza Health Ministry. The Hamas-run government is in charge of both departments, Reuters reported.

However, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has stated that reports of a possible Israeli airstrike against a hospital in Gaza are still under review.

The initial investigation by the IDF shows that the explosion in the hospital in Gaza was caused by a failed Hamas rocket launch, as reported by the news organization i24NEWS.

After the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel Defense Forces operational systems have indicated that rockets were fired by terrorists in Gaza.

He said that intelligence from several sources revealed that Islamic Jihad was responsible for the unsuccessful rocket launch.

"An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit," he posted on social media platform X."Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza," he added.