Israel will allow Egypt provide some help to Gaza, as doctors labor to treat hospital blast victims

Egypt will be permitted to send a restricted amount of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Israel announced on Wednesday.

One day after a hospital explosion left hundreds dead and severely damaged Gaza's already beleaguered medical system, the first breach in a punishing 10-day siege broke out.

The announcement to permit food, water, and other supplies came as U.S. President Joe Biden was visiting Israel in an attempt to stop a wider crisis in the region and as outrage over the explosion at Gaza City's al-Ahli Hospital spread throughout the Middle East.

Though there were differing theories about who set off the explosion on Tuesday night, protests gained momentum when some Arab leaders accused Israel of being the cause. Gaza's Hamas leaders claimed hundreds had died and attributed the deaths to an Israeli airstrike. Israel denied any involvement and then published a barrage of video, audio, and other materials claiming that Islamic Jihad, another militant organization active in Gaza, misfired one of their rockets, causing the incident. Islamic Jihad refuted that assertion.

Shortly after Hamas terrorists ransacked villages in southern Israel on October 7, Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza. Many households in Gaza have reduced their daily meals to one and are forced to drink tainted water as supplies run short.

The brutal destruction at al-Ahli brought the effects of the siege into stark contrast. The hospital grounds were littered with ripped remains, many of them small children, according to footage captured at the scene. Following the evacuation of hundreds of injured people, medical professionals at Gaza City's major hospital were occasionally compelled to conduct surgery on the floors, frequently without the use of anesthesia, due to severe shortages of supplies.