Heres our international editorjeremy bowen. Loud blast. The missile hit the hospital not long after dark. Man shouts. You can hear the impact. The explosion destroyed Al Ahli Hospital. It was already damaged from a smaller attack at the weekend. The building was flattened. Shouting. Very soon, video was posted from gaza of bodies laid out near the ruins of the hospital. So many dead and the size of the explosion, together looked to be having a profound impact on what was already the most dangerous crisis in the middle east in a generation. The wounded were taken across gaza city to Shifa Hospital. The israeli armys First Response said hospitals were highly sensitive and not targets of its military and urged caution about what it called the unverified claims of a terrorist organisation. That statement will not be believed by palestinians and by millions of others in the middle east who see these images. The wounded and the dying pouring into shifa from al ahli arrived at a hospital already overwhelmed by thousands of casualties from israeli air strikes. It was already struggling to treat patients after israel cut off fuel, water, food, and deliveries of medical supplies. Jordan and egypt condemned israel for a dangerous escalation. Jordan said the International Community should pressure israel to stop its attacks to prevent what it called wide cycles of violence. As fury and fear gripped palestinians, israel denied that it was responsible. I can confirm that an analysis of the idf operational systems indicates that the barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli Hospital in gaza at the time it was hit. Intelligence from few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed Rocket Launch which hit the hospital in gaza. Pictures on social media showed many children are among the casualties in gaza. So many people needed treatment that the corridors of Shifa Hospital were packed. Its also causing even fear among the hundreds of thousands of palestinians who fled to gazas Southern Border with egypt, after israel told them to leave their homes. Theres 8,000 people here at night and it is usually raucous, loud, kids are running around, but tonight there is silence, absolute silence. You cant hear a thing. People are just in absolute shock about what has happened. It is really, really shocking. And, and, ijust dont know what to say. I have no words. Anger spilled onto the streets of the occupied west bank. The other part of the palestinian territories that are separated from gaza by israel. Since hamas attacked out of gaza on the 7th of october, they have been fears 0ctober, they have been fears that mass casualties caused by israels response could ignite west bank towns that have been the centre of unrest for well over a year. The young man on the streets, and Palestinian Armed groups in the west bank, will not believe israels denials. The latest from ismail� s Prime Minister blaming what he called barbaric terrorists for the attack. The attack is a seismic event in a war that might spread elsewhere in the middle east. The palestinian president has cancelled a meeting with the us president , who is due in israel tomorrow morning on a mission that was aimed at easing the plight of palestinian civilians, and who will now walk into an even deeper crisis. Jeremy bowen, bbc news, in southern israel. 0ur gaza correspondent, rushdi abualouf, has been covering the conflict from the ground, and has this update on the hospital. They were treating people on the corridor of the hospital. They were doing surgeries for people seriously injured. They are volunteers, people, nurses, students of the medical and the universities rushing to the hospital to help and support the doctors, and the hospital are really struggling to save peoples live. It is like more than three hours now since the explosion in the hospital. People with their hands are still trying to remove the rubble and find any survivors. Transporting, finding the bodies and taking 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. The bbc has spoken to officials from both the israeli and palestinian governments. Both have different takes on who is responsible for the strike. We start with mark regev, Senior Advisor to Prime Minister netanyahu, and former ambassador of israel to the united kingdom. All indications are that this was not israeli orders, but this was rather a hamas rocket that fell short. Now, this was rather a hamas rocket that fellshort. Now, i this was rather a hamas rocket that fell short. Now, i want to explain this. From past conflicts with the terrorists in gaza, we know that, on average, about 33 of the rockets that they shoot at us fall short and land in gaza. Thats a fact. Thats documented. Numbertwo, we thats a fact. Thats documented. Number two, we know that at the time of this tragedy in gaza, there was a barrage, a huge barrage, against targets in central israel. I urge you to be cautious. There are indications, very, very serious that not us. Hamas wants to have a propaganda victory, saying israel has killed innocent civilians. There is no evidence to support that claim and lets just wait and see how this develops. Look, israel does not target hospitals,. We dont do it. The bbc also spoke with mustafa barghouti, a palestinian legislator and leader of the Palestinian National initiative. He pointed the finger squarely at israel, saying the strike was years in the making. It isnt unacceptable, deliberate war crime against the civilian of gaza, bombarding the Baptist Hospital where thousands of people were trying to take. Thinking they were in a safe place, where patients were there forgetting treatment, and then this israeli air strike, which took the lives of 500 people at least, and im sure the number would rise, because there are so many badly injured people who could die at any moment. This was a deliberate attack, unacceptable attack, a war crime that should not have happened and should not be accepted. And this in my opinion reveals to you the level of israels feeling of total impunity and lack of accountability, not only to international law, but to human beings everywhere. As we mentioned earlier, jordan has cancelled a planned summit it was going to host in amman with President Biden and the egyptian and palestinian leaders. According tojordan� s foreign minister, there is no use in talking now about anything except stopping the war. Earlier, the palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas had already pulled out of the summit with mr biden, instead returning to the west bank, to hold an Emergency Meeting of the Palestinian Authoritys leadership. Biden is currently on his way to the middle east, where he is still expected to meet with israels Prime Minister on wednesday. While aboard air force one, john kirby of the Us National Security council expressed optimism they will be able to get aid into gaza. 0ur North America editor sarah smith has more on the president s trip. This is an extraordinary trip, which was a very high stakes gamble, even before the news came in of this Hospital Bombing. Its a visit with two purposes, really, and both of those twofold missions got considerably more difficult today. Firstly, he wants to go there to demonstrate what he calls his ironclad commitment to israel and to its right to defend itself. Now, that is a position that joe biden has had for well over 50 years now, but it is a position that is much, much more uncomfortable to defend tonight than it was even just this morning. The other thing he wants to try to achieve is to get israel to allow emergency humanitarian aid into gaza and to put in place some kind of measures to try to protect innocent civilian lives. Thatjust looks a lot more difficult now as well, because youve got the american president , flying into a situation where the hamas leader says its the fault of the us, that this Hospital Bombing has happened, because america gives israel cover for its aggression, he says. As you were reporting, the palestinian president , Mahmoud Abbas, cancelled his meeting withjoe biden, and then, at the same time, israel are going to ask him for over 10 billion worth of emergency military aid. So he is arriving in a situation that was already complex, and it is now considerably more volatile, before he even touches down. Daniel byman is a Senior Fellow at the center for strategic and international studies, and has written extensively on the middle east. Hejoined me earlier. Daniel, very good to have you with us on bbc news tonight. News tonight. We will get to President Biden� s trip in a moment. I first want to start with this horrific attack on the hospital, and further escalation in this conflict and get your thoughts on it. So, as you said, this is one of the worst things you could imagine. 500, perhaps far more, people, innocent people, horribly killed. As your reporting indicated, we do not know who is responsible so far. But i would say that even if responsibility is determined, there will be audiences that do not believe it. Certainly, hamas and others will always claim israel is responsible, even if it is proven to be palestinian islamichhad or another group. This is going to harden views of israel, and is already causing damage to the United States in the region, where people have been very critical of the very strong Biden Administration support, and it is the sort of terrible tragedy that has marked this conflict in the past, where it sounds a bit stale, but we have seen the sorts of mistakes occur where a lot of innocent people died as military operations escalated. What do you think it will mean to israels stated aim of Eradicating Hamas from gaza . Eradicating hamas from gaza is an exceptionally difficult end goal. More realistically for israel is doing hamas a lot of damage. It would be measured in terms of killing or capturing leaders and destroying hamas infrastructure, whether arms caches, or its overall Military Support in gaza. Israel is preparing to go in on the ground in gaza. That will be an exceptionally difficult and bloody operation, simply the terrain of gaza, where everything is built up, and Hamas Colocated Military and civilian infrastructure means that its very hard to target hamas leadership without destroying large amounts of civilian infrastructure. And some people have fled the area but many remain and there will be unfortunately far more dead people as this operation commences. And that is something that will be impossible for israel to avoid. I want to also ask about President Biden� s trip to the region. The summit that he was intended to hold injordan is cancelled, because of this Hospital Strike. Where do you think this leaves his trip in terms of the stated mission to work on the humanitarian crisis in gaza 7 President Biden is going in part because he wants to go and show israel and Many Americans that he stands 100 largely behind israel. And he is also doing it because he believes that if he does so, he will have more ability to get israel to make concessions on things like humanitarian issues. I do believe that this trip has been warmly received by israelis and makes biden popular, far more popular than a democratic president has been for quite some time, and it does allow the United States to push israel on things like humanitarian corridors, supplies,. Just to jump in there, if he is seen meeting with israel and not engaging with palestinian and arab leaders, how do you think that will come across the region . There is no question the region is already very critical of the United States. We have seen widespread demonstrations where people have been chanting anti us slogans. This is even before the Hospital Bombing. People do not, then probe, blame the United States for providing. Arab governments will be cautious as a result, but the key issue right now is trying to make sure that there is some Israeli MilitaryCo Ordination with the humanitarian operations. That its not simply israel going on 100 on the military side. But, yes, there is no question the strike makes it much harder. You have written or said that what were seeing a decline of us power and engagement in certain parts of the world, including the middle east. What did you mean by that . The United States, they had one goal in the middle east which was to pivot towards china, dealing with russia, russian new canaan. These were priorities. The middle east has a way of sucking the United States back in. By trying to reduce its presence, its influence. We have seen a range of powers go the wrong way and that in my view has made the region less. That in my view has made the region lem that in my view has made the region less region less. Will we see this war widened region less. Will we see this war widened beyond region less. Will we see this War Widened Beyond The region less. Will we see this War Widened Beyond The current conflict . ,. , War Widened Beyond The current conflict . ,. ,. , conflict . That is a real possibility. Conflict . That is a real possibility. We conflict . That is a real possibility. We have. Conflict . That is a real. Possibility. We have seen conflict . That is a real possibility. We have seen an aggressive israeli response. We have seen strikes from syria. We havent seen an escalation, but tension is very high, passion is very high and things like the strike mean anger will propel groups like hezbollah and governments to try and act. Daniel, really interesting to get your perspective on bbc news tonight. Thank you so much. , ~ news tonight. Thank you so much. ,, Around The World and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other headlines. Us congressmanjim jordan has fallen short in the first round of voting to become us speaker. 20 fellow republicans voted against him. He could only afford to lose four members in a floor vote. Jordan is looking to fill the role, left empty, after the former speaker, kevin mccarthy, was ousted, two weeks ago. A second vote is expected to take place on wednesday. Belgian police have shot dead a man who killed two swedish nationals in brussels on monday. The 45 year old man was shot in a cafe. A third Swedish Citizen was seriously injured in the attack. The shooting took place five kilometres, or about three miles from the stadium, where belgium was playing sweden in a euro 2024 football qualifier. Indias Supreme Court has declined to legalise same sex unions, dashing the hopes of millions of lgbtq people seeking marriage equality. The court instead accepted the governments offer to set up a panel to consider granting more legal rights and benefits to same sex couples. Activists said they were disappointed by the decision and would continue pushing for legislation. Youre watching bbc news. Lets look more closely now at the fallout from tuesdays events in gaza city, and see how theyre rippling throughout the region. 0ur correspondent John Donnison has more on that. Gunfire fury tonight in the west bank. In ramallah, youths battled with Palestinian Security forces who responded with tear gas and sound grenades. Earlier, as reports of the Hospital Strike came in from gaza, thousands took to the streets in protest. There is anger directed at israel, but also at president Mahmoud Abbas and his palestinian authority, which many perceive as weak and lacking legitimacy. Mr abbas announced he was cancelling a meeting with President Biden, scheduled for tomorrow injordan, and was flying home. Chanting there were mass protests there this evening too and clashes outside the Israeli Embassy in amman. Translation during | the foundation of israel, when it occupied this area, they are breaching International Humanitarian law. Geneva agreement is obvious in this regard. Medical centres or hospitals should not be touched. In turkey also, thousands rallied against israel. As the war in gaza escalates, it is a dangerous moment for the wider region. Jon donnison, bbc news. The Us State Department has raised its travel alert level for lebanon, advising citizens not to travel there. Thats because of recent clashes between israel and hezbollah fighters. In the latest conflict, the Israeli Army Says it has killed four militants trying to cross from lebanon. 0vernight, the israeli airforce carried out more air strikes on targets linked to the iranian back