Iranian officials sent several unspecified warnings following an explosion at a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday that reportedly caused numerous casualties amid the Israel–Hamas conflict.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, wrote on social media that time is “running out” for Israel after the explosion, which Hamas and Palestinian officials blamed on the Israeli Defense Forces, while Israeli officials say that it was a misfired rocket launched by a Palestinian group that caused the blast.
“After the terrible crime of the Zionist regime in the bombing and massacre of more than 1,000 innocent women and children in the hospital, the time has come for the global unity of humanity against this fake regime more hated than ISIS and its killing machine,” Mr. Amir-Abdallohian wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
He added: “Time is OVER!” Meanwhile, the Iranian Embassy in Syria wrote a similar message, saying simply that “time is up.”
Reiterating his comment in an interview with state-run media, the foreign minister said that “time is running out very fast.” He said that “other multiple fronts will open and this is inevitable,” according to the New York Times and other media reports.
Israel has said that the hospital explosion was the result of the Islamic Jihad, which—like Hamas—is a U.S.-designated terrorist group based in Gaza. Jerusalem has denied that it was behind the explosion. The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health claimed the blast left hundreds of people dead, although that figure could not be independently confirmed.
“An enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital when it was hit,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement to news outlets on Wednesday. “According to intelligence information, from several sources we have, the GAP organization is responsible for the failed shooting that hit the hospital.”
Other regional leaders have issued statements on the hospital blast. Jordanian King King Abdullah II said in a statement that “this war, which has entered a dangerous phase, will plunge the region into an unspeakable disaster.”
Russian officials, meanwhile, have demanded that Israel provide satellite data and images to prove the IDF wasn’t behind it.
Israel later released drone footage of the scene of the explosion, which it said showed it was not responsible because there was no impact crater from any missile or bomb. The Israeli military also published what it said was an audio recording of “communication between terrorists talking about rockets misfiring.”
It came as President Joe Biden, who is visiting Israel on Wednesday, said that the country wasn’t behind the blast.
“I was outraged by the bombing of the hospital yesterday. Based on what I’ve seen, it was done by the other team. Not you,” President Biden said to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “But there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure.”
He added: “The world is looking. Israel has a value set like the United States does, and other democracies, and they are looking to see what we are going to do.”
The president’s trip to the Middle East was designed to calm the region, even as he demonstrated U.S. support for its ally Israel, which has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement whose fighters killed 1,400 Israelis in a rampage on Oct. 7.
But after the hospital blast, Jordan canceled the second half of Biden’s itinerary: a planned summit in Amman with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority.
Mr. Netanyahu also thanked President Biden for his “unequivocal support,” while President Isaac Herzog’s office said the head of state had told Biden: “God bless you for protecting the nation of Israel.”
At a later meeting, Mr. Netanyahu promised “Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm’s way.” Then, the U.S. president said the United States would “continue to have Israel’s back as you work to defend your people.”
After Biden’s remarks that Israel was not to blame, other Western leaders also called for caution amid fears that the conflict could spark a wider conflict. Some Arab officials have called for a day of protests on Wednesday, while video footage taken in Iraq, Turkey, and Jordan shows widespread demonstrations against Israel.
“Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly posted on X. “Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk. Wait for the facts, report them clearly and accurately. Cool heads must prevail.”
