Extra Time: Blast kills hundreds at Gaza hospital; dueling protests break out in NYC
In this edition of Eyewitness News Extra Time, we have the latest developments on the war between Israel and Hamas.
A massive explosion rocked a Gaza City Hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter on Tuesday.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry says the blast killed at least 500 people. Rescue workers are still on the scene assessing damage and looking for survivors.
Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military said the hospital was hit by a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian militant group allied to Hamas.
The carnage comes as the U.S. tried to convince Israel to allow the delivery of supplies in the tiny Gaza Strip. It has been under siege since Hamas' deadly rampage in southern Israel last week.
The violence in the Middle East sparked more protests in Manhattan.
Hundreds of demonstrators, both supporting Palestinians and those supporting Israel, were at Washington Square Park Tuesday evening.
Here are the other major headlines from Tuesday's show:
Next speaker vote expected Wednesday after Jordan loses 1st-round vote
Rep. Jim Jordan lost his first bid for the House speakership Tuesday after failing to reach the threshold of votes needed to secure the position. The next speaker vote will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jordan said after he left a two-hour meeting in Whip Tom Emmer's office. He reiterated that he is not going to drop out of the speaker battle and emphasized that he had basically the same level of support as McCarthy on his first vote in January.
Mayor Adams embraces artificial intelligence
Mayor Eric Adams is embracing the use of artificial intelligence to help improve the quality of life for many New Yorkers. Officials are now developing a framework for its use by city agencies. The action plan aims to weigh the benefits against the risks. Its first use will be a chat bot on the city's business website, which will answer frequently asked questions. Mayor Adams says he hopes to use artificial intelligence to help make the city government run efficiently.
New York City's Chief Technology Officer Matt Fraser spoke with Joe Torres about the new artificial intelligence action plan.
You can watch 'Eyewitness News Extra Time' live Monday-Friday at 6:30 p.m. on ABC7NY.com or our ABC7NY app on Roku, FireTV, Apple TV and Android TV.
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