After Israeli strike on hospital sets tent camp ablaze in Gaza, US offers criticism

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Tuesday condemned Israeli airstrikes on a hospital compound in the Gaza Strip that ignited a nearby tent encampment where displaced Palestinians had sought refuge.

At least four Palestinians were killed and dozens of others, including children, were injured in the Monday night attack, which set tents ablaze and reportedly sent survivors fleeing from one tent to another. Videos appeared to show one man being burned alive.

“The images and video of what appear to be displaced civilians burning alive following an Israeli air strike are deeply disturbing and we have made our concerns clear to the Israeli government,” said Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

“Israel has a responsibility to do more to avoid civilian casualties — and what happened here is horrifying, even if Hamas was operating near the hospital in an attempt to use civilians as human shields,” Savett said.

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The Israeli military said the strikes were targeting terrorists operating inside a command and control center in the area of a parking lot adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, a Palestinian city in central Gaza where a million people were sheltering.

“Shortly after the strike, a fire ignited in the hospital's parking lot, most likely due to secondary explosions,” the Israeli military said in a statement . “The incident is under review.”

The statement said the hospital and its functionality were not affected by the strike. The military said it is taking numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.

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The attack came as Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and forcing many families to leave their homes, residents said.

Footage circulated on social media showed several tents were set ablaze as some Palestinians tried helplessly to put out the fire. Video showed firefighters and volunteers trying to put out the flames with hoses and buckets of water and medical workers searching through the debris for casualties.

Survivors interviewed at the camp told The New York Times that after the strike, they almost instantly felt the heat of a fast-moving fire, fueled by explosions from canisters of cooking gas and flames that fed on plastic tents. They said it was the seventh time the hospital grounds had been hit.

Contributing: Reuters

Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After Israeli strike on hospital sets tent camp ablaze in Gaza, US offers criticism