GAZA CITY, Palestine

More than 500 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told Anadolu.

Footage showed corpses scattered across the hospital grounds.

According to an Anadolu reporter, thousands of Palestinians were at the hospital when the building came under bombardment.

The Israeli army, for its part, said reports of a possible airstrike on the hospital “are still under review.”

Daniel Hagari, an Israeli army spokesman, said he does not have all the information yet, and further details will be provided when possible, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

The spokesman said that he does not know yet if the blast at the hospital was an Israeli strike.

Palestinian group Hamas called Israel's targeting of the hospital a "genocide."

The airstrike came on day 11 in the current conflict, with a growing international chorus of non-governmental groups and world leaders saying the Israeli bombing campaign on the besieged Gaza Strip – including healthcare facilities, homes, and houses of worship – violates international law and may constitute a war crime.

Over 500 people killed in an Israeli airstrike on Baptist Hospital in Gaza, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra tells Anadolu https://t.co/VRz4BVuxzj pic.twitter.com/KuWDldT4Zb

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) October 17, 2023

Over 500 people killed in an Israeli airstrike on Baptist Hospital in Gaza, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra tells Anadolu https://t.co/VRz4BVuxzj pic.twitter.com/1vrzVInntR

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) October 17, 2023

🗣 ‘We couldn’t count the dead because most bodies are in parts’

🗣 ‘30% to 40% of the victims are children’

🗣 ‘We have seen a massacre, a genocide’

A first responder describes the horrifying scenes at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, which the Gaza Health Ministry says has been… pic.twitter.com/xIrxt3KExy

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) October 17, 2023