What we know about Gaza hospital strike

PARIS, France — Israelis and Palestinians have traded blame for a deadly strike on a Gaza hospital this week, with the number of deaths given ranging from dozens to nearly 500. 

World leaders have condemned the strike and protests have erupted in Arab countries and the wider Muslim world amid stark disagreement over the toll and who is responsible.

Here is what we know.

At around 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Tuesday, the health ministry in Gaza said an Israeli air strike had hit the Christian-run Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza City. 

Israel denied it was responsible, pinning the blame on a misfired rocket aimed at Israeli territory by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad from near the hospital.

Hamas has dismissed Israel's position, which received support from US President Joe Biden, saying its "outrageous lies do not deceive anyone".

The Gaza health ministry said at least 471 people had been killed in the strike and more than 300 wounded, some in critical condition.

But the US intelligence community has estimated there were likely 100 to 300 people killed in the strike, and a senior European intelligence source told AFP he believed the death toll was 50 at most.

Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus also disputed the Hamas-run ministry's figures, asking "where are all the bodies?"

AFP correspondents saw dozens of bodies at the scene, with medics and civilians recovering bodies wrapped in white cloth, blankets or black plastic bags. 

Bloodstains and torched cars could be seen in the hospital courtyard. 

Images of the hospital after the strike published by the Maxar satellite monitoring group show the hospital buildings mainly appeared to be intact.

Maxar said their images reveal "a probable discoloured blast area in the main parking area of the hospital compound" with no "significant structural damage to the adjacent buildings".

Violence has spiralled since Hamas militants stormed across the border into southern Israel on October 7 and shot, stabbed and burnt to death more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

At least 3,785 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched a ferocious air and artillery