Doctors in Gaza addressed the press after a deadly hospital blast from the middle of a pile of bodies.
A harrowing photo shows the medics at a podium placed in the centre of covered victims outside the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
Several children-sized bodies can be seen wrapped in bloodied sheets, with a few of the young victims’ faces exposed by the men holding them.
The blast hit the Anglican-funded hospital on Tuesday, while thousands of people were wounded or seeking shelter there.
More than 500 people were killed, the Gaza Health Ministry estimates.
Hamas has blamed an Israeli airstrike, but the Israeli military claims the site was hit with a rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group – it also denies involvement.
Horrific images have emerged of the blast, where survivors are seen covered in blood and bandages.
Some 350 people were reportedly rushed to Gaza City’s main hospital al-Shifa, which is already buckling under the pressure to help Palestinians being relentlessly hit by Israeli airstrikes.
Director Mohammed Abu Selmia said: "We are squeezing five beds into a single tiny room. We need equipment, we need medicine, we need beds, we need everything. I think Gaza's medical sector will collapse within hours."
He has also warned that al-Shifa, and many other hospitals in Gaza, are at risk of running out of generator fuel within hours – this has been the only access many buildings have to electricity after Gaza’s sole power plant shut down as a result of Israel’s siege of the land.
Richard Sewell, the British director of the Christian charity which runs the hospital, said: “Disaster: our hospital, Ahli Arab Hospital has taken a direct hit from an Israeli missile.
“Early reports say hundreds of women and children killed. This is deliberate killing of vulnerable civilians. The bombs must stop now. There can be no possible justification for this.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: "I renew my appeal for civilians to be protected in this devastating war.”
Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) October 18, 2023
Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk.
Wait for the facts, report them clearly and accurately.
Cool heads must prevail.
In a post on X, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: "Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital."Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk. Wait for the facts, report them clearly and accurately. Cool heads must prevail."
Hamas attacks on October 7, which helped spark the current crisis, took the lives of at least 1,400 people in Israel.
Some 250 were taken hostage, according to Monday’s update from the militant group.
At least 2,778 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, 940 of which are children, Hamas reports.
