teleSur
The Palestinian presidency, and political parties, condemned on Tuesday the martyrdom of hundreds of Palestinians in the Baptist Hospital massacre in the Gaza Strip earlier in the day.
President Mahmoud Abbas declared mourning and lowering flags, amid calls for strikes and marches in several cities following an airstrike by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza that at least 500 dead.
Some 600 Palestinians were injured, and hundreds of people are estimated to remain under the rubble of what also served as a shelter for Palestinians who had fled their homes following Israeli evacuation orders.
“The hospital housed hundreds of sick and wounded, as well as people forcibly displaced” because of the shelling, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement.
#Israel bombed a hospital in #Gaza, killing at least 500 people, in violation of Article 19 of the Vienna Convention, which prohibits the targeting of hospitals in the midst of conflict. pic.twitter.com/Nbuit0a0yK
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
October 17, 2023
The Palestine Civil Defense describes the attack as “unprecedented in our history,” while the communication office of the enclave authorities denounced a “war crime.”
For his part, the presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina “strongly condemned the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation by bombing the Arab National Hospital.”
“The occurrence of this large number of innocent civilian casualties in a hospital that is supposed to have immunity confirms that the Israeli government does not respect any international standards or recognized laws,” the spokesman said.
He continued, “This crime is added to the series of crimes committed by the occupation against our people since the beginning of the recent aggression, which left thousands of martyrs and wounded, the majority of whom are children and women.”
The bombing took place this morning, according to Palestinian officials, Israeli fighters launched an airstrike against the hospital.
