500 Killed In Israeli Airstrike On Gaza Hospital Complex: Hamas Ministry

The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike Tuesday hit a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter, killing hundreds. If confirmed, the attack would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008.

Photos from al-Ahli Hospital showed fire engulfing the hospital halls, shattered glass and body parts scattered across the area. The ministry said at least 500 people had been killed.

Several hospitals in Gaza City have become refuges for hundreds of people, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said there were still no details on the hospital deaths: "We will get the details and update the public. I don't know to say whether it was an Israeli air strike."

In the south, continued strikes killed dozens of civilians and at least one senior Hamas figure Tuesday in attacks it says are targeted at militants.

US officials worked to convince Israel to allow delivery of supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals after days of failed hopes for an opening in the siege.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 2,778 people and wounded 9,700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Nearly two-thirds of those killed were children, a ministry official said. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said. Emergency teams struggled to rescue people while cut off from the internet and mobile networks, running out of fuel and exposed to unceasing airstrikes.

On Monday Israeli warplanes struck the headquarters of the Civil Defense in Gaza City, killing seven paramedics. Another 16 medics and doctors have been killed on the job, Gaza officials said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that his country's retaliation against Hamas aims to eradicate the group's political and military rule over Gaza. ''We are not fighting just our war. We're fighting the war of all civilized countries and all civilized peoples," he said.

Israel has massed troops at the border for an expected ground offensive, but Hecht said Tuesday no concrete decisions have been made despite Israel's mass evacuation order for the north of the Gaza Strip. More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes - roughly half of Gaza's population - and 60 per cent are now in the approximately 14-kilometer (8-mile) long area south of the evacuation zone, the UN said. Aid workers warned that the territory was near complete collapse. Hospitals were on the verge of losing electricity, threatening the lives of thousands of patients, and hundreds of thousands of people searched for bread and water.

The UN agency for Palestinians said more than 400,000 displaced people are crowded into schools and other facilities in the south. The agency said it has only 1 liter of water a day for each of its staff members trapped in the territory. Israel opened a water line into the south for three hours that benefitted only 14 percent of Gaza's population, the UN said. At the Rafah crossing, Gaza's only connection to Egypt, truckloads of aid were waiting to enter. The World Food Program said that it had more than 300 tons of food waiting to cross into Gaza. Civilians with foreign citizenship - many of them Palestinians with dual nationalities - also waited in Rafah, desperate to get out.

"We come to the border crossing hoping that it will open, but so far there is no information," said Jameel Abdullah, a Swedish citizen. An agreement to open the border appeared to have been reached Monday, but Israel denied reports of a cease-fire in Rafah, which would be a precondition. On Tuesday morning, gates were still closed. An Egyptian official said Tuesday that Egypt and Israel agreed that the aid convoys at the border would travel into Israel for inspection at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel. The aid would then be allowed into Gaza. A brief humanitarian cease-fire would take place and foreign nationals would be allowed to exit Gaza via Rafah, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak with the media.

Officials for Hamas and Israel cast doubt on an immediate opening, saying they were unaware of an agreement. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Israel for the second time in a week on Monday after a six-country tour through Arab nations, said in Tel Aviv that the US and Israel had agreed to develop a plan to enable humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza. There were few details, but the plan would include "the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm's way."

Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, arrived in Tel Aviv for meetings with Israeli military authorities ahead of a Biden visit planned for Wednesday to signal White House support for Israel. Biden will also travel to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders amid fears the fighting could spread in the region. Israel evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon, where the military has exchanged fire repeatedly with Hezbollah militants.

Israel said it killed four militants wearing explosive vests who were attempting to cross into the country from Lebanon on Tuesday morning. Video from a reconnaissance drone the army shared showed the militants near the border wall before they were targeted, causing an explosion. No group immediately claimed responsibility. "Whoever approaches the border with Lebanon will be killed," said Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

Israel has warned Lebanon it will strongly retaliate against attacks from across the border. Israel fought a vicious monthlong war with Hezbollah in 2006 that ended in a stalemate and a tense detente between the two sides. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Israel's continuing offensive in Gaza could cause a violent reaction across the region. "Bombardments should be immediately stopped. Muslim nations are angry," Khamenei said, according to state media.

Hamas' military wing released a hostage video on Monday showing a dazed woman having her arm wrapped with bandages. The woman, who identified herself as Mia Schem, 21, rocked slightly as she spoke, the sound of explosions reverberating in the background. The plight of the hostages - Hamas claims it has more than 200 of them - has dominated the Israeli media since the attack. Interviews with relatives of hostages are shown over and over on television. Israeli officials have vowed to maintain the siege of Gaza until the hostages are released. (AP) RUP