A man pushes a cart carrying salvaged mattresses, pillows and sheets at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in central Gaza on Wednesday in the aftermath of an overnight blast. MAHMUD HAMS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Israel and Palestine trade blame amid urgent calls for cease-fire in Middle East

The United Nations and Arab states have strongly condemned the blast at a hospital in Gaza, which they referred to as a "massacre" that killed at least 471 people, and reiterated the call for an immediate cease-fire.

Doctors in Gaza City, faced with dwindling medical supplies, performed surgeries on hospital floors, often without anesthesia, in a desperate bid to save badly wounded victims amid Israeli bombings and a blockade of the territory.

Nabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency, accused Israel of bombing the hospital that led to the deaths of hundreds, stressing Israel "should bear full responsibility".

However, Israel denied responsibility and said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group in Gaza, which denied the blame.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement posted on social media platform X that from the analysis of its operational systems, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out toward Israel, "which passed through the vicinity of the hospital when it (the hospital) was hit" by a rocket.

The latest incident also prompted the cancellation of a four-party meeting in Jordan that would include United States President Joe Biden, who landed in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, with an angry Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calling the hospital blast a heinous war crime that could not be tolerated or allowed to pass without accountability, said a report by Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Also slamming the deadly explosion at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for an immediate cease-fire during his speech at the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on Wednesday. He said the Middle East region "is on the precipice".

"Too many lives, and the fate of the entire region hangs in the balance. May the spirit of this meeting help those that need to find peace," he said.

Preventing displacement

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, said Arab Group members were "outraged by this massacre" and united in demanding the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid and preventing "forcible displacement" of Palestinians.

Twenty-two Arab countries at the United Nations joined the demands for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, The Associated Press and Asharq Al-Awsat, a pan-Arab newspaper headquartered in London, reported on Wednesday.

The Palestinian Authority declared a three-day public mourning for the victims of the hospital attack, including Palestinian civilians who died in the current conflict.

The strike on the hospital compound has also provoked outrage and condemnation from around the world, with protests on the streets of Amman, Tunis, Beirut and Teheran.

"China is shocked by and strongly condemns the heavy casualties caused by the attack on a Gaza hospital," China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. China calls for an "immediate cease-fire" and "every possible effort to protect civilians", it added.

Biden offered an assessment that the deadly explosion apparently was not carried out by the Israeli military. "Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you," Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told European Union lawmakers "there is no excuse for hitting a hospital full of civilians" and that "fact needs to be established" and "all those responsible must be held accountable".

Saudi Arabia condemned the strike as "a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms", denouncing Israel's "continuous attacks against civilians".

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi declared a day of "public mourning" on Wednesday.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed grave fears of the current conflict's toll on civilians in the coming days, after it said a "staggering 4,200 people" have been killed with more than 1 million people being displaced "in just 10 days".

Agencies contributed to this story.