About 500 Palestinians were killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital yesterday that health authorities in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip blamed on an Israeli air strike.
According to a report by Reuters, Israel’s military attributed the blasts at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital to a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
The latest incident of violence and bloodshed has ignited protests in the West Bank and around the Middle East.
Al-Jazeera quoted a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who denounced the air raid as an act of “genocide” and a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
Abbas reportedly pulled out of a scheduled meeting with US President Joe Biden, who is set to arrive in the region on Wednesday.
The incident was condemned by a number of neighbouring governments including that of Jordan and Egypt. It is the latest act in an ongoing armed conflict between Palestinian groups led by Hamas and Israeli defence forces that began on Oct 7, and is believed to have claimed over 4,000 lives so far.
The World Health Organisation in a statement also strongly condemned the attack.
"The hospital was operational, with patients, health and caregivers, and internally displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries.
"The hospital was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military. The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced.
"WHO calls for the immediate active protection of civilians and health care. Evacuation orders must be reversed. International humanitarian law must be abided by, which means health care must be actively protected and never targeted," said WHO.
Emergency meeting
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council will convene an emergency meeting today to address the attack on the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza, reported Anadolu Agency (AA).
According to a statement from a UN spokesperson, the meeting is scheduled for 10am local time (6pm in Malaysia) and will be conducted in an open debate format.
A draft resolution from Brazil calling for a "humanitarian pause" in Gaza will be voted on during the meeting.
Previously, Russia and the United Arab Emirates jointly called for an emergency session of the Security Council. - Mkini
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