'This is a massacre'

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah was at work Tuesday when an explosion hit the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City.

"We were operating in the hospital, there was a strong explosion, and the ceiling fell on the operating room," said the doctor who is with the aid organization Doctors Without Borders. "This is a massacre."

Officials at the medical center said hundreds of staff, patients, and refugees who were sheltering at the hospital were killed and wounded. Palestinians have been seeking refuge in and around hospitals from the persistent Israeli bombardment of Gaza prompted by the Oct. 7 Hamas rampage that killed about 1,400 in Israeli territory.

Israeli and Palestinian authorities blamed one another for the hospital blast. After he landed in Israel Wednesday, President Joe Biden said it appears Israel was not responsible.

“Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you," Biden said during his Tel Aviv visit, which comes as Israeli forces prepare for a pending ground assault. Biden stressed that "a lot of people out there" aren't sure of who caused the blast and added, "We've got to overcome a lot of things."

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