Dubai, UAE – Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital compound which health officials there said killed at least 200 people has provoked outrage and condemnation from around the world, with the UAE and Russia calling for a UN Security Council session on the carnage.
Meanwhile, the Gulf Cooperation Council on Tuesday announced $100 million in emergency aid for the Gaza Strip, as Israel bombards targets in the enclave during its war against Hamas.
Here are some of the major reactions:
OIC
The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hussein Ibrahim Taha, has strongly condemned the horrific massacre committed by the Israeli occupation.
The OIC Secretary-General held the Israeli occupation fully responsible “for the consequences of its crimes, terrorist practices and brutal attacks against the Palestinian people, which contradict all human values and constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
He also reiterated his call on the international community, especially the UN Security Council to urgently intervene to halt the war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip and provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
GCC
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi expressed his strong condemnation of the brutal shelling by the Israeli occupation forces of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.
He said that targeting the hospital is glaring evidence of the serious violations by the Israeli occupation forces who do not recognize international conventions, treaties, and laws, adding that it is also proof of the recklessness of their practices.
He affirmed the firm positions of the GCC countries rejecting the repeated and serious Israeli violations, calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities and duties to stop the acts of the Israeli occupation forces.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has unequivocally condemned the strike, deeming it a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions, including international humanitarian law.
The Kingdom expressed its outrage at the Israeli occupation’s refusal to cease its ongoing attacks on civilians despite numerous international appeals.
“This alarming development necessitates the international community to abandon double standards and selectivity in the application of international humanitarian law when it comes to Israeli criminal practices,” the Kingdom statement read.
It called for a serious and resolute stance to provide protection for innocent civilians.
The Kingdom also emphasized the urgent need to open safe corridors immediately, responding to the pleas from nations and organizations, to deliver food and medicine to civilians besieged in Gaza. It holds the Israeli occupation forces fully responsible for their repeated violations of all international norms and laws.
3,478 killed in Gaza: Health ministry * The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation denounced Israel's backers for granting the country "impunity" in its war in Gaza, as US President Joe Biden conducted a solidarity visit. The 57-member bloc of Muslim-majority countries "deplores the international positions that back the brutal aggression against the Palestinian people, and grant Israel impunity, taking advantage of the double standards that provide cover for the occupying power", said an OIC statement published after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers. The same statement blamed Israel for a rocket strike on Gaza's Christian-run Ahli Arab Hospital that killed 471 people according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry. * At least 3,478 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the coastal enclave, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said. More than 12,000 others have been wounded. * Around 5,000 Jordanians gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Amman Wednesday to protest the deaths of hundreds of people in a strike on a Gaza hospital they blame on Israel. * Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in Tunisia on Wednesday outside the French embassy, condemning Western support for Israel which they blamed for a deadly strike on a Gaza hospital. * President Joe Biden said Wednesday the United States would work with Israel to prevent civilian deaths as it pounds Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising to make efforts. "We will continue to have your back. As you work to defend your people, we will continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians," Biden said after meeting Netanyahu's war cabinet in Tel Aviv. * President Joe Biden said Wednesday the United States would work with Israel to prevent civilian deaths as it pounds Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising to make efforts. "We will continue to have your back. As you work to defend your people, we will continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians," Biden said after meeting Netanyahu's war cabinet in Tel Aviv. * Egypt's president said Wednesday he would not allow any mass influx of refugees from Gaza, saying it would set a precedent for "the displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank into Jordan". After talks with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi blamed Israel's air strikes on the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for the failure to get aid to the territory's 2.4 million people. * The European Union "cannot accept" Israel stopping water supplies to Gaza's population, which "clearly" violates international law, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday. "Suspending the water supply to a community under siege is contrary to international law. But we can't accept that," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Hezbollah
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement on Tuesday called for a “day of rage” to condemn a strike on a Gaza Strip hospital, blaming Israel for what it called a “massacre”.
“Let tomorrow, Wednesday, be a day of rage against the enemy,” Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas who are at war with Israel, said in a statement, calling the strike a “massacre” and “brutal crime”.
Iran
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned on Wednesday that “the flames of US-Israeli bombs” would soon “consume” Israel after a deadly strike on a Gaza hospital left many dead.
“The flames of the US-Israeli bombs, dropped this evening on the Palestinian victims injured at the… hospital in Gaza, will soon consume the Zionists,” Raisi said, according to the IRNA agency.
The Israeli army said the strike which hit the Gaza hospital, killing at least 200 people according to Hamas officials, was a rocket misfired by Islamic Jihad Palestinian.
Jordan
Israel bears “responsibility for this grave incident,” a Jordanian foreign ministry statement said, “strongly condemning” the incident.
Amman subsequently announced the cancellation of a summit on brokering peace in the region due to involve US President Joe Biden, who postponed his trip to Amman in response.
Dozens of protesters attempted unsuccessfully to storm the Israeli embassy compound in Amman an AFP journalist said.
Qatar
Qatar’s foreign ministry called the attack a “a brutal massacre” and “a heinous crime against defenceless civilians”.
In a statement the Gulf state called the attack on Ahli Arab Hospital a “blatant violation of the provisions of international law” and a “dangerous escalation in the course of the confrontations”.
Tunisia
Hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside the French embassy in Tunisia on Tuesday, also denouncing the US, after the hospital strike.
“The French and Americans are allies of Zionists,” demonstrators shouted, according to an AFP journalist.
Protesters demanded the recall of both countries’ ambassadors and shouted: “No American embassy on Tunisian territory.
Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the incident as “the latest example of Israeli attacks devoid of the most basic human values”, in a message on social media.
“I invite all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza,” Erdogan said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
African Union
The African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat accused Israel of a “war crime” following the deadly strike.
“There are no words to fully express our condemnation of Israel’s bombing of a #Gaza hospital today, killing hundreds of people,” Faki said on X, formerly Twitter, calling for the international community to act.
EU
EU chief Charles Michel said that targeting civilian infrastructure in Gaza breaks international law.
“An attack against a civilian infrastructure is not in line with international law,” Michel said after a videoconference of EU leaders.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell later wrote on social media that “the news coming from the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital in Gaza add horror to the tragedy unfolding before our eyes since days.”
France
French President Emmanuel Macron said “nothing can justify targeting civilians” after a deadly strike on a Gaza hospital and called for humanitarian access to the coastal strip “without delay”.
“Nothing can justify a strike against a hospital. Nothing can justify targeting civilians. France condemns the attack on the Al-Ahli Arabi hospital in Gaza which caused so many Palestinian victims. We think of them,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip must be opened without delay.”
UN
The UN human rights chief Volker Turk called the hospital strike totally unacceptable, insisting that the perpetrators must be held to account.
“Words fail me. Tonight, hundreds of people were killed — horrifically — in a massive strike at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, including patients, healthcare workers and families that had been seeking refuge in and around the hospital,” he said.
“Once again the most vulnerable. This is totally unacceptable.”
Russia and the United Arab Emirates called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to be held on Wednesday following the deadly strike.
WHO
The World Health Organization condemned the deadly strike and demanded the immediate protection of civilians and health care in the strip.
“WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital,” the UN health agency said in a statement.
“The hospital was operational, with patients, health- and care-givers, and internally-displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries.”
(With inputs from AFP)