- Attack happens on eve of Biden's visit to Israel
- The hospital was crammed with patients and displaced people when it was hit
- World condemns strike and terms it as genocide,heinous, barbaric and inhuman
The strike was the bloodiest single incident in Gaza since Israel launched an unrelenting bombing campaign against the densely populated territory in retaliation for a deadly cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7.
The Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital (commonly known as the Baptist hospital), bombing took place on the eve of a visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel to show support for the country. The hospital is managed by the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem. There is also a church inside the hospital complex.
Arab countries, Iran and Turkey swiftly condemned the attack. The Palestinian prime minister called it "a horrific crime, genocide" and said countries backing Israel also bore responsibility. The dead included patients, women and children.
Video obtained by Reuters showed several full ambulances arriving at another Gaza hospital carrying people injured at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital.
"Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza," the statement said.
In Washington, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports about the hospital being hit but had no details.
Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the "heinous crime" committed by Israeli forces by bombing the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza leading to the death of hundreds, the kingdom's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Health authorities in Gaza say more than 3,500 people have been killed in Israel's 11-day bombardment.
Israel has flattened parts of heavily urbanised Gaza with air strikes, driven around half of its 2.3mn population from their homes and imposed a total blockade on the enclave, halting food, fuel and medical supplies.
Amid the death and destruction, the humanitarian crisis in the enclave worsened as Israeli troops and tanks massed on the border for an expected ground invasion.
Scores of trucks carrying vital supplies for Gaza headed towards the Rafah crossing in Egypt on Tuesday, the only access point to the coastal enclave outside Israeli control, but there was no clear indication that they would be able to enter.
