The Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital suffered a rocket and potentially a missile strike Tuesday, killing hundreds receiving treatment or seeking shelter. The Palestinian Authority has blamed the Israelis for the bombing while an Israeli Spokesman denied it was an Israeli missile strike. He leaned on the fact that Israeli intelligence and electronic sources indicate it was a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. A terrorist group operating in Gaza. Reports of the number of dead are between 300 and 500. Many are still buried under rubble and the death count is bound to go up.
The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was to meet with President Biden but canceled after the tragedy. Gaza is under siege per se from both Hamas and Israeli bombardment. Hamas is reportedly not allowing Palestinians to migrate south of the Wadi River towards the Egyptian border where they can reach security from the bombardment and seek refuge in Egypt. However, Egyptian authorities are not allowing the Palestinians to migrate across their borders and the Jordan government has already stated they would not allow Palestinian refugees into their country. Egypt has offered to allow UN humanitarian aid in the form of water and food for the Palestinians amassing at the southern Gaza border.
The Israelis expressed a high degree of confidence that Israel was not responsible for the hospital bombing. Then again in the fog of war, there is always confusion or resistance to accepting responsibility for a tragic event. The Israelis have been conflicted on the issue of cutting off water, electricity, and food aid to the Gaza Strip while simultaneously blaming Hamas for sabotaging the endpoints that were extended into Gaza. Their spokespersons had readily admitted to conducting these actions early on but have recently been blaming Hamas for the chokehold. The world is watching and if Israel comes across as denying responsibility or covering up mistakes, they will lose the support and sentiment of the world for the tragedy their citizens have recently suffered.
- Israel has the right to defend itself amidst the horrible terrorist attack their citizens have just experienced. Where families, babies, the disabled, and the elderly were brutally slaughtered. Where groups of people unarmed mind, seeking safety in bunkers had grenades launched into the shelters without indifference. Hamas must be annihilated but Israel has also to acknowledge the encroachment of settlements into lands that were once Palestinian until after the WWII agreement giving the Israelis their own country and land in 1948 is a sore spot for them. Care should be taken to not make judgments until after an investigation has been completed. Hamas stating it was a bombing conducted by the Israelis can only be taken with a grain of salt after their murderous rampage of children, families, and the elderly. And Israel needs to tighten up as well and be consistent and transparent in their war effort into what I believe is the most heavily populated area in the world.