At least 471 people were killed in an explosion at a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night, Palestinian health officials said. They blame an Israeli airstrike, but the Israeli military says the explosion was caused by a failed rocket launch by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The BBC's Rushdie Abu Allouf visited the scene and saw body parts still being collected.
In the chaos that followed the blast and the massive fire that followed, blood-soaked mattresses were strewn across the courtyard of Al Ahli Arab Hospital, along with clothing and personal belongings.
More than a dozen cars were wrecked in a nearby car park.
Surrounding buildings have also been damaged, apparently with pockets of sniping. But no large impact craters are visible.
There is an atmosphere of panic, with people struggling to understand what happened in a place that was supposed to be protected under international humanitarian law.
"We left our house to come here," one survivor told the BBC. "We thought it would be safe, but then it was bombed."
