An Israeli air strike on Tuesday hit Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, a location where thousands of civilians sought medical treatment and shelter from the ongoing attacks. According to reports from Al Jazeera, citing the Gaza health ministry, at least 500 people lost their lives in the hospital blast. Additionally, a United Nations-run school housing refugees was also struck.

This attack occurred just a day before United States President Joe Biden's scheduled visit to Israel, during which he is expected to emphasize US support for the country.

The overall death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks since Hamas's October 7 attack inside Israel, which resulted in over 1,400 casualties, has reached approximately 3,000 Palestinians.

A report by the Associated Press (AP) stated that this incident marked the highest death toll from a single incident in Gaza during the current violence, prompting protests in various locations including the occupied West Bank, Istanbul, and Amman.

The Palestinian Authority's health minister, Mai Alkaila, labeled the strike on Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital as a "massacre" committed by Israel. The strike, which claimed the lives of hundreds of people, took place during Israel's intense 11-day bombing campaign in Gaza.

The AP report also mentioned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attributed the attack on the hospital to "barbaric terrorists" in Gaza, not Israel's military.

Furthermore, according to AP, health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra reported that hundreds were killed in the strike, with rescue workers still recovering bodies from the rubble. Initially, in the immediate aftermath of the blast, a Gaza civil defense chief reported 300 casualties, while health ministry sources estimated the figure to be 500.