Alwaght- People, authorities, and groupings across the world have expressed sheer outrage at the Israeli regime's massacre of hundreds of civilians in a single attack against a hospital in besieged Gaza.
On Tuesday, at least 500 civilians, mainly women and children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes on al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City amid a relentless war by the regime on the besieged Gaza Strip. The actual death toll could be far higher since, according to the territory's health ministry, "hundreds of victims are still under the rubble."
The strikes came while thousands of civilians were seeking medical treatment and shelter at the hospital from incessant Israeli airstrikes. The war had already killed thousands of people, including hundreds of women and children.
Reacting to the atrocity, the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas' Politburo Chief, Ismail Haniyeh said, "The hospital massacre confirms the enemy's brutality and the extent of its feeling of defeat."
The Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah called for a "day of rage" to condemn the strike, describing the Israeli strikes as a "massacre" and "brutal crime."
The Office of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denounced the atrocity as "one of the most heinous and bloodiest massacres against humanity in the modern era."
"The Syrian Arab Republic holds Western countries, especially the United States of America, responsible for this massacre and other massacres, as it is a partner of the Zionist entity in all organized killing operations against the Palestinian people," it added.
Saudi Arabia condemned the bloodletting "in the strongest terms," calling it a "heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces."
BREAKING: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns in the strongest terms the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces by bombing Al-Ahly Baptist Hospital in Gaza , which led to the death of hundreds of civilians, including children, and wounding hundreds pic.twitter.com/A0HKnxBAlo
— Inside the Haramain (@insharifain) October 17, 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "I call on all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza."
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a statement, calling the slaughter a "clear violation of international law."
Moussa Faki Mahamat, the African Union's chief, called the strike a "war crime."
"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 known as Twitter, calling on the international community to act.
There are no words to fully express our condemnation of Israel's bombing of a #Gaza hospital today, killing hundreds of people. Targeting a hospital, considered a safe haven under International Humanitarian Law, is a war crime. The International Community must act now.
— Moussa Faki Mahamat (@AUC_MoussaFaki) October 17, 2023
'Words fail me': UN human rights chief
The deadly strikes are "totally unacceptable," Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, said, 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. Once again the most vulnerable. This is totally unacceptable," Turk said in a statement.
The World Health Organization reminded that the attack had targeted the facility while it was "operational, with patients, health and caregivers, and internally displaced people sheltering there."
"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, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced," the UN body said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside the French Embassy in Tunisia, following the Israeli airstrikes, shouting, "The French and Americans are allies of Zionists."
Protesters demanded the recall of both countries' ambassadors and shouted, "No American embassy on Tunisian territory."
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that "nothing can justify targeting civilians" and called for humanitarian access to Gaza "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.
"Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip must be opened without delay."
The United Arab Emirates strongly condemned "the Israeli attack that targeted al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of people," the official state news agency WAM reported early on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Authority's President Mahmoud Abbas said the attack amounted to a "hideous war massacre" that could not be tolerated, adding that any talks about anything else rather than stopping the war was unacceptable.
"Israel has crossed all red lines. ... We will not leave nor allow anyone to expel us from there," he added.
Palestinian United Nations Ambassador Riyad Mansour, standing with Arab UN envoys, said they were all outraged by the deadly strikes on the hospital and blamed Israel.
"We condemn this act in the strongest possible terms and we hold Israel responsible for this massacre, this crime, and those responsible for this crime should face justice," Mansour said.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said the strike was a "war crime" and said Washington was indirectly responsible.
"The horrific attack on a hospital in the Gaza Strip is clearly a war crime," Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on the Telegram messaging app.
"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. The USA."
