Israel-Hamas war: Gaza hospital was warned an hour before the blast, reveals Palestinian envoy

Israel-Hamas war: With Israeli and Palestinian authorities are pointing fingers at the other for the blast at Gaza hospital, Palestinian ambassador in Japan has revealed that the Israeli military had issued a warning to Gaza's Al-Ahli Baptist hospital an hour before blast, as reported by The Spectator.

During the initial hours following the blast, a Gaza civil defence leader stated that around 300 people had perished, while sources from the health ministry indicated a figure of 500, as per Reuters' report.

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Hundreds of people were murdered in a major explosion at a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, intensifying bombardments near towns in southern Gaza rattled civilians where Israel had ordered them to take refuge. Hamas had attributed the blast to an Israeli airstrike, however, Israeli military said it was not involved and the explosion was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.

Also Read: Israel-Hamas War: Who bombed the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza that killed 500? Israel and Islamic Jihad engage in blame game

Israel has said that the blast was a result of a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group in the enclave. The spokesperson added that some 450 rockets fired from Gaza have fallen short and landed inside the strip in the last 11 days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also in a statement said that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the Gaza hospital attack. Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said that Netanyahu is a liar. “He is a liar. His digital spokesperson tweeted that Israel did the hit thinking that there was a base for Hamas around this hospital, and then he deleted that tweet. We have a copy of that tweet. Now they changed the story to try to blame the Palestinians. The Israeli spokesperson of the Army made a statement in which he said evacuate the hospitals...Their intention is to evacuate or hospitals will be hit and they are responsible for that crime and they cannot fabricate stories to deal with it."

Gaza is a narrow enclave spanning 45 kilometres (25 miles) and is inhabited by 2.3 million people. It has been under the control of Hamas, an Islamist organization designated as a foreign terrorist group by the United States, since 2006. 

Meanwhile, the explosion has triggered widespread criticism throughout the Arab world, prompting protests near Israel's embassies in Turkey and Jordan, as well as in the vicinity of the US embassy in Lebanon. 

(With inputs from agencies)