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What We Know About Gaza Hospital Strike — Israeli-Palenstine Groups

Published

2 years ago

October 18, 2023

A rocket strike hit a hospital in Gaza late on Tuesday. The strike killed hundreds of Palestinians, according to the Hamas-led Gaza health ministry.

While world leaders have condemned the incident and protests have erupted around the Arab world and Muslim countries, Israel and Palestinian militant groups have traded blame for the strike.

What happened?

At around 1700 GMT on Tuesday, the health ministry in Gaza said an Israeli air strike had hit the Christian-run Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza City. Israel denied it was responsible, pinning the blame on a misfired rocket aimed at Israeli territory fired by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad from inside Gaza near the hospital.

The Gaza health ministry said at least 471 people had been killed and over 300 wounded, some in critical condition.

The AFP correspondents saw dozens of bodies at the scene. Medics and civilians recovered bodies wrapped in white cloth, blankets or black plastic bags. Bloodstains and torched cars could be seen in the hospital courtyard.

Images of the hospital after the strike published by the Maxar satellite monitoring group show the hospital buildings mainly appeared to be intact.

Maxar said their images reveal “a probable discoloured blast area in the main parking area of the hospital compound” with no “significant structural damage to the adjacent buildings”.

Violence has spiralled since Hamas militants on October 7 stormed out of Gaza and across the border into southern Israel and shot, stabbed and burnt to death more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

At least 3,478 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip both in Tuesday’s hospital strike, and in Israel’s reprisals against the tiny territory for the October 7 attack, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Since the start of the Israeli reprisals, tens of thousands of families have flocked to Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals seeking refuge.

What do both sides say?

While Hamas immediately said the damage came from an Israeli air strike, the Israeli army said Gaza militants from another Palestinian group — Islamic Jihad — had caused the explosion with a misfired rocket.

“The evidence — which we are sharing with you all — confirms that the explosion at the hospital in Gaza was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press conference in Tel Aviv.

He said no Israeli army fire “by land, sea or air” hit the hospital and said Israel’s trajectory analysis showed the rockets were fired “in close proximity to the hospital.”

Islamic Jihad has said that Israel was trying to evade responsibility for the deaths.

“We therefore affirm that the accusations put forward by the enemy are false and baseless,” the group said.

Hamas said in a statement Israel “is directly responsible for this horrific massacre which was carried out… with American weapons only the occupation possesses”.

Israel has denied that the explosion was caused by its own Iron Dome missile defence system, which seeks to protect Israeli territory from Gaza rocket attacks, with Hagari saying the system is not used to “intercept rockets inside Gaza” but prevent them from hitting Israeli territory.

How has the world reacted?
US President Joe Biden, on a trip to Israel to show solidarity, said he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the hospital explosion and backed Israel’s account.

“Based on the information we’ve seen to date, it appears as a result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza,” he added, after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.

Hamas has accused the US government of being “complicit in the occupation’s massacres”.

Governments in Arab countries and the wider Muslim world have largely backed Hamas’s accounts of the incident, expressing outrage at Israeli strikes on civilian populations.

Even countries with diplomatic relations with Israel, such as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, blamed Israel for the strike.

Thousands of protesters rallied in countries from Lebanon to Morocco, Iran and Turkey, late Tuesday and more demonstrations began Wednesday following calls for a “day of rage” across the region.

Governments in Europe have condemned the explosion, but without attributing blame.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said there is “no excuse for hitting a hospital full of civilians” in Gaza, but did not apportion blame for the blast.

Russia described the strike as a “crime” and an “act of dehumanisation”, calling on Israel to provide proof it was not involved.

AFP

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Return Of Chinese Astronauts Delayed After Space Debris Hits Spacecraft

Published

12 minutes ago

November 5, 2025

Editor

The return of three Chinese astronauts to Earth has been postponed indefinitely after their spacecraft was reportedly hit by a small piece of debris, according to Chinese state media.

The astronauts, who are part of the Shenzhou-20 mission, travelled to the Tiangong space station in April and were scheduled to return on Wednesday following a six-month stay. Their replacements, the Shenzhou-21 crew, had already arrived over the weekend.

“The Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft is suspected to have been struck by a small piece of orbital debris, and assessment of the impact and associated risks is currently under way,” the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement.

“To ensure the health and safety of the astronauts and the successful completion of the mission, it has been decided that the originally planned return of Shenzhou-20 on November 5 will be postponed.”

Officials did not specify when the debris incident occurred. Earlier in the week, state media reported that both crews had shared a meal of baked chicken prepared using the station’s first oven, delivered by the Shenzhou-21 team. On Tuesday, videos showed the two teams holding a handover ceremony.

Yu Jun, a science communicator known online as Steed’s Scarf, said that if the spacecraft is deemed unsafe to return, authorities could activate a backup plan.

“Shenzhou-22 and the Long March 2F (launcher) were already on standby. This is our rolling backup mechanism. They are in ‘emergency duty’ mode and ready to bring our astronauts home safely if needed,” Yu told his more than five million followers on Weibo.

China has continued to expand its human spaceflight program, completing 37 flights and six crewed missions so far, with plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.

The Shenzhou-20 commander, Chen Dong, holds China’s record for the longest cumulative space time more than 380 days and the highest number of spacewalks, with six.

Chinese astronauts have not joined the International Space Station, a partnership between the US, Russia, Europe, Canada, and Japan, due to a US law preventing NASA from cooperating with China’s space program. Instead, China has said it welcomes international cooperation on its Tiangong space station.

(The Guardian Uk)

Headline

Man Grabs Mexico’s President While Meeting Citizens On The Street

Published

50 minutes ago

November 5, 2025

Editor

Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, while meeting citizens in Mexico City was grabbed by a man, prompting concern over presidential security and ongoing harassment faced by women in the country.

A video from Tuesday shows a man, appearing intoxicated, attempting to kiss the president on the neck and holding her from behind.

She quickly removed his hands and turned to face him before an official stepped in and blocked the man.

As he was led away, Sheinbaum was seen smiling slightly and saying, “Don’t worry.” State police later confirmed the man’s arrest.

Commentators said the episode shows that no woman, not even Mexico’s President, is immune to harassment.

“Even if you’re the president, any guy believes he has the right to touch you,” said Catalina Ruiz-Navarro, a journalist with feminist outlet Volcánicas. “When they ask what the patriarchy is, this is it.”

The incident also raised questions about Sheinbaum’s security. Her team was not clearly visible in the footage, and it took several seconds for anyone to react.

It comes days after Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, a popular mayor, was killed during Day of the Dead celebrations in Uruapan, Michoacán.

He was shot seven times at close range before the gunman was killed. Before his death, Manzo Rodríguez had publicly appealed to Mexico’s President for help against local criminal groups.

He is the latest in a series of officials killed in Mexico. During the 2024 election campaign, 37 candidates were murdered, and since Sheinbaum’s government began on 1 October, 10 municipal presidents have also been killed.

While local leaders are often targeted, high-level officials have also faced threats.

In 1994, presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta was assassinated at a rally in Tijuana. In 2020, the Jalisco cartel attempted to kill Omar García Harfuch, Sheinbaum’s current security minister, in a daylight attack in Mexico City.

Sheinbaum herself faced a scare last year during her campaign in Chiapas, when masked men stopped her vehicle to demand action against violence before letting her go.

Like her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s President has preferred to keep close contact with the public and maintain lighter security. But the latest incident may prompt her to reconsider.

“Hopefully [the presidency will press charges], and the president will send a clear message: no man has the right to kiss or touch a woman without her consent,” wrote Alejandra Escobar, editorial director of Ectétera, on X. “May this also serve as an example for [her assistants]: it is not acceptable for her to be so exposed.”

(The Guardian UK)

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Sweden To Charge 18-year-old Over IS Terror Plot

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2025

Editor

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said Tuesday it intended to charge an 18-year-old man for planning a terrorist act in Stockholm on behalf of the Islamic State group.

According to prosecutors, the planning took place between August 2024 and February 2025.

“We believe the purpose of the preparations was to induce serious fear in the population, in the name of the Islamic State. The criminal act could have seriously harmed Sweden,” Deputy Chief Prosecutor Henrik Olin said in a statement.

Prosecutors did not provide details of the plan but said the man was also suspected of “preparation for serious crimes under the act on flammable and explosive goods and training for terrorism”.

Prosecutors said they planned to file the charges on Thursday and that a press conference would be held the same day.

The young man will also be charged alongside a 17-year-old boy with attempted murder in Germany in August 2024.

Both of them are also suspected of “participation in a terrorist organisation,” according to the statement.

The man was arrested in Stockholm on February 11 and has been in custody since then.

AFP