An injured man waits to get treated at a hospital after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Oct. 17, 2023. Since the bloody conflict between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, a total of 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and 10,850 others wounded, according to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry. (Photo: Xinhua)

 

A man carries an injured child at a hospital after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Oct. 17, 2023. Since the bloody conflict between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, a total of 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and 10,850 others wounded, according to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry. (Photo: Xinhua)

 

Medical staff transfer an injured man at a hospital after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Oct. 17, 2023. Since the bloody conflict between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, a total of 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and 10,850 others wounded, according to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

An injured man receives treatment at a hospital after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Oct. 17, 2023. Since the bloody conflict between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, a total of 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and 10,850 others wounded, according to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
The Palestinian Authority declared a three-day public mourning for the victims of a rocket attack on a Gazan hospital Tuesday night, and for all the other Palestinian civilians who died in the ongoing conflict.

Palestinian media reported that at least 500 people were killed in what they said was an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.

In a statement announcing the mourning, Nabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency, accused Israel of bombing the hospital which led to the deaths of hundreds, stressing Israel "should bear full responsibility."

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said the hospital killing was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement posted on social media X that from the analysis of IDF operational systems, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, "which passed through the vicinity of the hospital when it (the hospital) was hit" by a rocket.

"According to intelligence information from a number of sources we have, the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is responsible for the failed rocket launch that hit the hospital," the military added.

Earlier, local eyewitnesses told Xinhua that a rocket hit the hospital, sending a huge explosion through its premises.

They rushed to the place a few minutes later and saw hundreds of killed people on the ground, said the sources.

According to Gaza's health ministry, the hospital was housing hundreds of sick and wounded and sheltering thousands of displaced civilians who were forced to flee their homes due to constant Israeli attacks.