The video was shot just after the explosion, just after the first aid workers arrived on the scene. The man filming was heard repeating in shock: "In the name of God," as he wandered between the bodies of adults and children, some mangled amidst belongings, blankets and bags strewn across the grass. At around 7:30 pm on Tuesday, October 17, a powerful blast hit the courtyard of Al Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza City. In addition to the sick and the wounded from the Israeli bombings – in retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7 – hundreds of people who had been forced to flee their homes had massed there, hoping to find a safe refuge. The local Ministry of Health announced the death of "at least 500 people."

The Israeli army accused Hamas ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad of being "responsible for the failed rocket attack that hit the hospital." Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters on Wednesday morning that "no cratering and no structural damage to nearby buildings" had been found to indicate that an air strike had caused the explosion and insisted that "no IDF fire from the land, sea or air that hit the hospital." Islamic Jihad denied these accusations. For the Hamas leader who is in exile in Qatar, Ismail Haniyeh, there was absolutely no doubt that the responsibility belonged to Israel and "the Americans, who gave unlimited cover to this enemy [Israel] to commit these massacres." The movement responded to the explosion at the hospital by firing a salvo of rockets toward central Israel. Since October 7 and the total closure of the enclave by Israel, the international press has had no access to the area.

On Tuesday evening, the many wounded were – as best as possible – rushed to the Al Shifa government hospital, already overwhelmed by the influx of victims of the bombardments over the last 11 days. "What happened was a major massacre in every sense of the word, which is genocide against our people, and the world must take action," said Gaza civil protection spokesman Mahmoud Bassal, interviewed on Al Jazeera television channel. Locked in by a total Israeli siege since October 7, the enclave is short of everything: medicines, fuel for generators, disposable medical equipment, gas and water.

"My daughters and I were thrown backward by the blast," said a neighbor, reached by telephone and who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "All the ambulances rushed to the site. We saw fires, bodies scattered everywhere. Blood everywhere. For us, it was impossible for it to be bombed. It's a Christian hospital! I've lost faith in humanity." The Al Ahli Arab Hospital, like some 20 others in Gaza, had been ordered by the Israeli authorities to evacuate to the south of the enclave.

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