A tragic incident occurred Tuesday amid the Israel/Hamas war when a hospital in Gaza City was destroyed, leaving hundreds of Palestinians dead.

Israel and Hamas are both pointing fingers, blaming one another for the destruction.

A massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter Tuesday, killing hundreds of people, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military said the hospital was hit by a rocket misfired by Palestinian militants.

The health ministry said at least 500 people had been killed. Video that The Associated Press confirmed was from the hospital showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital’s grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. Around them in the grass were blankets, school backpacks and other belongings.

After the attack, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would not be participating in a meeting with President Joe Biden and other Arab leaders that was scheduled to commence on Wednesday. Abbas’ decision has given rise to some serious questions: Is he using the bombing as a pretext to avoid engaging in dialogue? Is he more concerned about the politics of the situation than he is about finding a way to stop the violence?

In protest over the purported airstrike, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cancelled his participation in a meeting with Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egypt’s president set for Wednesday in Amman, Jordan to discuss the war. Abbas’ Palestinian Authority runs parts of the West Bank.

Hundreds of Palestinians flooded the streets of major West Bank cities including Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, where protesters hurled stones at Palestinian security forces who fired back with stun grenades. Hundreds of people joined protests that erupted in Beirut and Amman, where an angry crowd gathered outside the Israeli Embassy.

On one hand, Abbas might believe that the magnitude of the incident has rendered diplomatic talks untenable at this moment. Conversely, it is also possible that he is weaponizing the event for his political agenda – especially if Israel’s enemies can convince the world that it is responsible for the devastation and loss of life in Gaza City. His refusal to sit down with President Biden when he was preparing to travel to the region casts doubt on Abbas’ motivations.

However, given the dire situation playing out in Gaza and Israel, one would expect Abbas to seize every opportunity to engage in dialogue with major international powers. After all, it is highly possible that the violence in the region could eventually show up at his doorstep in the West Bank, which isn’t too far away from where the fighting is happening. But, like many other Palestinian leaders, he might be prioritizing politics over the well-being of the Palestinians.

It is also worth noting that Hamas’ claim that Israel bombed the hospital has some serious flaws. RedState’s Bonchie highlighted this issue:

For example, on its face, the reported death toll makes no sense. We are being asked to believe that in under an hour, Hamas was able to put out the fires, clear the rubble, and accurately count how many people died in the explosion. That is simply impossible, even as a close estimate.

The best governments in the world would take a week to figure out a preliminary number of dead in a situation like this, yet the claimed death toll went from 200 initially to 500 within a few minutes, and within an hour, Hamas was claiming 900 dead.

Whether Abbas is using the hospital tragedy to play politics isn’t quite clear as of yet. But the implications of his refusal to engage might result in even more tragedies in the region.