DUBAI, October 18. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had already struck al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip prior to Tuesday’s attack that killed hundreds of people, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said, describing the attack as deliberate.
"Israel already hit the hospital two days ago, telling doctors that this deliberate bombing was a warning," al-Maliki said at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
"That was the deliberate murder of women and children. Israel knew where the hospital was located and the fact that there were hundreds of civilians there, both wounded and forcibly displaced people as a result of its barbaric bombardment," the minister stressed.
On Tuesday, the Al-Hadath television channel reported that Israeli airstrikes on the central part of Gaza City had hit a hospital. According to the Gaza Strip’s health ministry, 471 people were killed and 342 more wounded in the attack on the Al-Ahli Hospital. Palestine put the blame on the Israeli military. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied responsibility, saying in a statement that the powerful explosion in the hospital had resulted from a misfired rocket launched by the Islamic Jihad group.
Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon all declared a period of mourning. A four-way summit in Amman, which was expected to bring together Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, US President Joe Biden, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan, was canceled after the strike.