Canada, Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye, UAE, Iran and the UN denounce strike and call for intervention to stop such violations.
A strike resulted in the deaths of at least 500 Palestinians at the crowded Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, according to the health ministry in the besieged Gaza enclave.
The strike, which Palestinian officials said came from Israel, was denied by Tel Aviv. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead blamed “barbaric terrorists” for the attack.
This strike marked the deadliest singular event in Gaza since Israel initiated an ongoing bombing campaign on the densely populated territory in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas.
‘Outraged and deeply saddened’
US President Joe Biden said in his official statement that he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted”.
He mentioned that he spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan and Israeli PM Netanyahu and directed his “ national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened“.
“The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy,” he added.
‘Absolutely unacceptable’
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was “horrified by the loss of life at Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza”, he said in a post on his official X account.
“It is imperative that innocent civilians be protected and international law upheld,” he stated.
A few hours earlier, Trudeau said that the strike on a hospital in Gaza was “horrific and absolutely unacceptable” while talking to reporters.
“International law needs to be respected in this and in all cases. There are rules around wars and it’s not acceptable to hit a hospital,” Trudeau told reporters.“
‘Devastating loss of human life’
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that “the destruction of Al Ahli hospital is a devastating loss of human life.”
“The UK will work with our allies to find out what has happened and protect innocent civilians in Gaza,” he added.
Earlier, Palestinian envoy to the United Kingdom Husam Zomlot said that he was “waiting for UK government condemnation of this atrocious act of mass murder of civilians”.
‘A war crime’
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram that the act was “clearly a war crime”.
“The final responsibility for it lies with those who cynically make money from wars in different countries and on different continents. Who thoughtlessly distributes colossal amounts of money for weapons, loading up their military-industrial complex. Who falsely proclaims their global mission to protect democratic values. USA.”
Russian representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy shared on X that he hopes all the Security Council members that “ voted against Russian draft humanitarian resolution on Gaza that included a clear demand for immediate ceasefire or abstained will be able to explain their reasons to the wider public“.
‘The Palestinian question’
The United Arab Emirates also condemned the Israeli attack and called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities”.
The UAE mission to the United Nations spokesperson Shahad Matar said that “the UAE and Russia have called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, following the strike on a hospital in Gaza.”
‘Unprecedented brutality in Gaza’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the strike on the Gaza hospital full of women, children and innocent civilians “the latest example of Israel’s attacks devoid of the most basic human values”.
He called for collective action to stop “this unprecedented brutality in Gaza.”
‘Strongest terms’
Similarly, Egypt condemned the act “in the strongest terms”.
‘Israel must end its brutal aggression’
King Abdullah II of Jordan called the attack “a heinous war crime that cannot be ignored” on The Royal Hashemite Court’s official X account.
“Israel must end its brutal aggression on Gaza,” he said in a separate post.
In the aftermath of the attack, Jordanian authorities cancelled the summit where Biden was supposed to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi.
Cancelling the summit, the country’s official news agency said, “The Foreign Minister announces that the Quartet summit will not be held tomorrow in Amman due to the Israeli massacre in Gaza.”
Jordan also announced three days of mourning in the wake of the deadly hospital explosion.
‘Heinous crime’
Saudi Arabia also released a statement condemning the “heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces”.
‘Flagrant violation of the provisions of international law’
Qatar denounced the air strike in the “strongest terms” calling it a “brutal massacre, a heinous crime against defenceless civilians and a flagrant violation of the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law”.
‘Investigating the dimensions of this war crime’
Iran also condemned the act in the “strongest terms” as “a horrendous crime committed by the Zionist regime during its attack on the Al-Ahil hospital in Gaza”.
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson stressed that “the international community, particularly the United Nations and its Security Council, are expected to fulfil their international responsibilities by promptly investigating the dimensions of this war crime and prosecuting the Zionist criminals”.
‘Devastating loss of innocent lives’
The Archbishop of Canterbury — leader of the Anglican Communion, Justin Welby denounced the “appalling and devastating loss of innocent lives”.
“I renew my appeal for civilians to be protected in this devastating war. “
‘Immediate humanitarian ceasefire’
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed that he was “horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital in Gaza” in a post on his X account.
In a separate post, he called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Middle East to ease the epic human suffering”.
The UN health agency stated that “WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital. The hospital was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
Hospitals in Gaza were already overwhelmed as tens of thousands of families sought shelter there, pushing them to the brink of capacity.
The WHO said 111 medical buildings have been hit by Israel, with 12 healthcare workers killed and 60 ambulances bombed.
The European Union chief Charles Michel said that “an attack against a civilian infrastructure is not in line with international law” after a video conference of EU leaders.
‘Facilitate a ceasefire’
US lawmaker and the only Palestinian American in the US Congress Rashida Tlaib criticised President Biden for refusing to “facilitate a ceasefire and help de-escalate” the situation.
She added: “Your war and destruction only approach has opened my eyes and many Palestinian Americans and Muslim Americans like me. We will remember where you stood.”
US congresswoman Ilhan Omar urged Biden to “push for an immediate ceasefire to end this slaughter”.
