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president biden heads to visit the region and meet with leaders there. ♪ hello and welcome to will news america. we are following breaking news out of gaza, where a hospital suffered a devastating strike. palestinian authority's essay over 500 people have died the hospital had served as a shelter for hundreds of people seeking shelter. hamas claims israel is behind the strike, which israeli military has denied, saying they do not target hospitals. the former israeli ambassador to the u.k. says it was possible the airstrike was caused by a hamas rocket. >> i urge you to be cautious. there are serious indications it

is not us. hamas wants to have a propaganda victory saying israel has killed innocent civilians. there is no evidence to support that claim. let's see how this develops. look, israel does not target hospitals, full stop. host: the bbc has not been able to verify either side's claim. emergency workers tried to take the injured to another hospital. doctors are being forced to treat people on the pavement outside the hospital because there's no more room inside. a plastic and reconstructive surgeon from london said it hit while he was operating. >> the hospital was on fire. part of the room has fallen. there is broken glass everywhere. there are lots of people who

were seeking refuge in the hospital. i need to go. host: this comes hours after the u.n. said a school in central gaza had been hit, killing at least six. thousands are sheltering there as well. protests have broken out in a city in the west bank controlled by the palestinian authority. the afp is reporting they are calling on the palestinian authority president to resign. this comes as president biden is expected to arrive in israel wednesday morning. biden is due to meet with netanyahu upon his arrival before meeting to jordan to meet with arab leaders there. president mahmoud abbas was expected to be there but he has canceled his planned meeting with president biden in the wake of the strike at the hospital in gaza. he has cut short his trip to jordan, opting to return home to the west bank to hold an emergency meeting of the palestinian authority leadership.

with me now is our correspondent barbara plett-usher. what do we know about the latest, what has happened, and who may behind it? >> there was an explosion at the hospital in the gaza city which is in a very central part of gaza city. it was crammed with people, katrina. obviously the wounded and the sick. around 6000 people may have been sheltering. that was the top figure given because this hospital is fully fund by the anglican church. we have seen all the scenes of fire and chaos and so on in the casual the figures, hundreds, seem to be rising. who is responsible? both sides are blaming the other. what the palestinians are saying is it was an airstrike by israel. the bbc spoke to a british palestinian doctor who was there

and saw two rockets fired from a war lane. -- warplane. we had the israeli spokesman you nine it was israel, saying they determined it was a barrage of rockets that misfired and had fallen onto the hospital, something islamic jihad strenuously denies. but i think you can expect that people will believe what they want to believe about either side. caitriona: of course at the center of these devastating scenes. has there been any response from the u.s., from the white house or president biden? barbara: there has not been one yet. there probably weighing very carefully what they are going to say, especially given the competing claims of who is responsible.

but it is going to be president biden descending into a region aflame. it ups the stakes for his trip. at the very least it's an extremely sensitive time to be speaking next to prime minister netanyahu and showing solidarity and support for israel, which is the main purpose of his trip. other u.s. officials have been emphasizing more and more the situation in gaza as it gets extremely dire. they were talking about getting military in a in, talking about the -- military aid in. talking about having as few civilian casualties as possible. we are expecting president biden to continue that message with prime minister netanyahu, but it seems this will shift the focus of his trip to the dangers beings. spy palestinians in gaza. it will also disrupt his meetings and other arab leaders.

the palestinian leader has cut short his trip. he is facing protests and a very difficult situation. the jordanian king has called this a war crime and a massacre. you can imagine president biden 's discussions with them will be fairly complicated and heated. caitriona: has there been other international reaction to what has happened here? barbara: yes. the russia and the uae, united arab emirates, at the u.n. have called for an emergency meeting tomorrow. you had a comment from the head of the eu who said this kind of attack or strike was against international law. the canadian prime minister said the same, that it was illegal to attack a hospital. you have also had people who support hamas or support the palestinians come out one strongly. the turkish -- come out quite strongly. the turkish president came out saying the israeli government showing no respect for human life.

then you had hezbollah in lebanon calling for protests wednesday. and a hamas leader has said basically the u.s. is responsible, that it has given israel the green light for aggression. so that is going to be the message that those kind of groups carry. caitriona: thank you very much for all of that. the bbc spoke to a doctor who was just yards away from the hospital. >> what i have seen is something from beyond imagination. the only british originated hospital, what we call baptism hospital, it was her and established back -- it was originated and established back in 1905. it was rocketted by two rockets from very speedy planes. i think an f-16. people in the hospital, they

were not only sick people, they were also fleed their homes to seek refuge in that hospital. at least 5000 people were inside that hospital. and ruthlessly, without mercy, the israeli army rocketed two rockets in front of me. the number of martyrs, the number of killed people is about 600. but to me, i think it's much, much higher, for two reasons. first of all, some of the fire is still inside. it has been another 400 people at least. and the wreckage on top of the people. they do not have equipment, they do not have cranes so that they can help the people, or take the people from below. what we see there is lots of

beheaded heads that are arise the corpses. this is the biggest massacre, the biggest kindling that has taken place in this century. and in front of the eyes of the civilians, kids. it's horrible. you cannot imagine how tough this massacre is. how tough the easy killing of these people. when you see them you feel there is no mercy whatsoever. caitriona: video like these show the chaotic scenes as emergency workers transport the injured from the blast to the nearby hospital. our gaza correspondent is in southern gaza with more details. >> doctors were treating people in the corridor. they were doing surgeries for people who were seriously injured.

there were volunteers, nurses, students of the universities were rushing to the hospital to support the doctors. they are really struggling to save people's lives. it is more than three hours now since the explosion in the hospital. people are still trying to remove the rubble and find any survivors. finding the bodies, taking the bodies to the hospital, there is no place to put the bodies. they put the bodies in the courtyard of the hospital and they are making surgeries in the street. a doctor from the hospital just said they were doing surgeries in the courtyard of the

hospital. very, very, very horrific scenes spreading on social media. we have to bear in mind most palestinians will not even hear of this because people don't have electricity, they cannot access the internet, they cannot watch this on tv. very, small number of people have their own generator. look, this hospital, it's one of the oldest hospitals. it's literally in the center of gaza's old town. it's like 10 meters only from the main street in gaza. it's surrounded by two big cemeteries. the area is well known. it's not a hospital that can receive emergency cases. it's more of a medical center. they treat specialty cases.

the hospital has now treated refugees who are part of a process. look, yesterday and today, this hospital is the closest one to a neighborhood. israel was sending messages to people to leave the area. but some people could not find a car to drive from the north to the south, where israel said it is more safe to go south. so they decided to go two things . there's a conflux of schools around the area. thousands of people flee to the school. when the school became overflowed, they decided to go to the hospital. we are having a similar situation here where i am standing now.

these people flee from gaza and from the border. seems that you have -- same situation that you had in the hospital. the palestinian ministry confirmed 500 people are ready were killed. caitriona: as i mentioned earlier, president biden is still set to visit israel and a show of support for the country following the hospital attack. joining me now is richard hoss. thanks for joining us. the bombing of a hospital, a significant death toll is likely to rise. is this the point at which this conflict shifts? richard: no, i would say it obviously complicates president biden's visit to israel. but no, i don't think it shifts.

israel still has the right of self-defense. it still has all sorts of concerns that lead to want to militarily defeat hamas to the extent possible. we will see what the truth is here. whether israel claims it was hamas, hamas claims it was israel. i would simply say, if it is a question of intent, or a missile going off course. this will obviously complicate israel's position in the region and the world in terms of public opinion. but no, i think israel still has essentially a desire and even a need to go after hamas militarily. caitriona: nevertheless, so many civilians killed at a hospital. it will inflame an already volatile situation. is it still appropriate for president biden to be visiting there? richard: i think it is. in my experience, crises don't get better if left alone. it is not like a good bottle of wine, if you put it down it gets

better. things in the middle east tend to get worse before they get even worse. so yes, it is important that president biden br th -- be there. he already talked about his opposition to israel doing a large invasion. i think this would reinforce it. whatever the truth is, israel should follow a policy that distinguishes between going after hamas and something large-scale in gaza. and i think this would reinforce the president's message of that. caitriona: many agencies, the united nations, the eu, have said israel is in reach in -- in breach in international law without it has been violating civilian lives. what is your view on the u.s. standing so wholeheartedly with israel? richard: the united states, as i understand it, has made clear its opposition for things like cutting off water, what you might call a siege. that seems to be questionable policy.

i think it alienates the international community. it also causes too much harm to civilians. so the united states is trying to be supportive of israel. again, the right of self-defense, the importance of showing that terrorism cannot be carried out with impunity. at the same time they want israeli policy to be start. we want them to distinguish between going after gaza -- pardon after me, hamas, which is emmett til -- which is illegitimate military target. the u.s. also has a major concern about the war not widening. it is another reason you're likely to see opposition from president biden to israel doing something really large. the last thing the u.s. wants to see is hezbollah entering the war, or violence in the west bank or throughout the middle east. it's not something right now that would be in anybody's interest. caitriona: on that we are already seeing protests. there's a report that the

palestinian authority leader was canceling his meeting with president biden in jordan to return to the west bank, although the white house said it is not yet deceived official notice of that cancellation. is there concerned now about relations in the region? richard: i hope that mahmoud abbas is not canceling the meeting. it's an opportunity for him to voice his views to president biden. palestinians never this an opportunity to miss an opportunity. this would be an opportunity for the head of the palestinian authority to say what he has to say to the president of the united states. again, we will see what the truth is here. yes, it is quite possible that u.s. relations in the region will be afraid. the u.s. wants to give support -- not unconditional support, but support to israel. at the same time it has all sorts of interests in the arab world. by the way, that is nothing new. this is a balancing act the u.s. has been sustaining for 75 years.

right now things have grown more acute because of the crisis, but this is not fundamentally different than something we have dealt with over the decades. caitriona: reuters is reporting that the hamas leader has said the u.s. is responsible for the attack on the hospital because of, as he put it, the cover it giving to israel for what they described as the aggression. we saw the department of defense put u.s. troops on deployment standby today. is there the potential for the u.s. role here to collate? richard: yes, there is always the potential for that. the more likely scenario will include iran. if hezbollah comes into the fighting because of iran, and hezbollah would never act independently, then yes, i can see the u.s. taking certain kinds of actions. could be sanctions or even military action. i don't want to see that. war widening would be injurious to everyone in the region as well as my own country.

but i cannot rule it out. there are so many parties that have the ability to take action, that could set things in motion. it is hard to be confident right now that this situation can be managed. caitriona: just very briefly, is there a role for the u.n. here? we see russia and the uae calling for an emergency ticker to council meeting. richard: not much. the security council is divided. we have seen that in ukraine. i don't think there is enough consensus there for the security council to do much. i think it will be individual governments. perhaps qatar, egypt, the u.s. and others. but no, i don't think the security council can play much of a constructive role. caitriona: ok. richard, thank you indeed for joining us. richard: thank you. caitriona: israel has denied claims it was responsible for the hospital strike in gaza. earlier on tuesday our partners from cbs news reported sources saying israel requested $10

billion in emergency military aid. we are joined now by tom bateman. what is the latest from the scene? an already overwhelmed hospital and still no sign of aid coming. tom: absolutely. the images we have seen of what happened in the aftermath of that explosion are extremely disturbing. a scene of total devastation. the street outside this particular court hard -- courtyard where i was told around 1000 displaced people were sheltering. that came from one of the anglican church officials that runs this institution, the hospital. about 1000 people there. we have seen maimed casualties being pulled out on stretchers. the streets outside, total construction, cars burned out, a blackened and charred scene with dead and wounded there. and what people are saying

there, some of the medics and other residents there trying to help, is that they are still several hours on now pulling bodies and the wounded from the rubble. so it's an extremely concerning scene and situation. then in terms of the cause of this, we have this claim and counterclaim. local civil defense in gaza city as well as the gaza health ministry saying this was an israeli airstrike. the israeli is saying this was a palestinian rocket that fell short. caitriona: you are in jerusalem. what has been the response there? what will this mean for the direction of the conflict from here? tom: i think one of the most concerning things now is despite that uncertainty around, or the claim and counterclaim around the cause of this, there already releasing statements of condemnation about israel.

i think that is upping the temperature that was already extremely high in this region. we have seen, for example, protesters trying to march towards the israeli embassy. we have seen in the last few hours palestinian protesters in ramallah in the occupied west bank calling for the downfall of the presidency of mahmoud abbas, the president of the palestinian authority. the palestinian authority is deeply unpopular by many palestinian civilians. they say it is unable to stop the israeli occupation. they are registering their descent over israel. in that context we have seen the palestinian president saying he will not meet joe biden after his visit to israel. what that does is on the eve of the u.s. president's visit, it shows you that the crisis in

this region is already escalating. caitriona: how does it further complicate joe biden's trip given what you are seeing? is there any expectation that he will try and call for a cease-fire, for example? tom: i don't know about that. but to have an event of massive civilian casualties in a single event like this is obviously going to create a challenge, and a very big challenge for president biden when he comes. because i think that will dominate the discussion over the crisis over the coming hours. there will be a lot of discussion about calls for evidence to back up the claims around the cause of this. atmosphere. it makes it much harder. and he definitely needs the support and the coordination of arab world leaders, because a big part of this is about still trying to secure negotiations

about the release of the israeli hostages being held in gaza. and that's why those discussions with the rest of the arab and muslim world are critically important. caitriona: tom bateman in jerusalem, thank you very much. we will be continuing our coverage on the attack and more on our website, bbc.com/news. on our app we have news and analysis from our teams on the ground. i am caitriona perry. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on "the newshour" tonight. scores of civilians are killed and injured in a strike on a hospital in gaza as the war between israel and hamas worsens. amna: house republicans fail to choose a leader again in a first round of voting, leaving the