"We tried to save whoever could be saved but the number was too great for the hospital team," he said. REGION IN CRISISAn injured person is assisted at Shifa Hospital after hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, October 17. Israel's military on Wednesday published what it described as evidence that a misfired Palestinian rocket caused the hospital explosion. Before Tuesday's blast, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died in 11 days of Israeli bombardment. A Gaza civil defence chief gave a death toll of 300 at the hospital, while health ministry sources put it at 500.

---

Persons: Fadel Naim, Joe Biden, Ibrahim Al, Naqa, Mohammed Al, Masri, Ghassan Abusittah, Abusittah, Salama Marouf, Abir Al Ahmar, Michael Georgy, Janet Lawrence Organizations: Arabi, U.S, Islamic Jihad, Palestinian, Hamas, Shifa, REUTERS, West Bank, Gaza, Islamic, Baptist Hospital, Thomson Locations: GAZA, Al, Ahli, Gaza, Israel, Gaza City, Jordan, Turkey, British, Palestinian, Israeli