Gaza Strip: An Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed hundreds of Palestinians at a Gaza City hospital crammed with patients and displaced people, health authorities in the besieged enclave said.
A Gaza Health Ministry official said at least 500 people were killed and several others injured in the air strike on the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital.
Hamas said the bombing mostly killed people left homeless by Israel bombardments, and that the dead included patients, women and children.
UAE, Russia call for urgent UN Security Council meeting
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on Wednesday at a request by the UAE and Russia following the airstrike on the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, which is believed to have killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians.
The UAE and Russia 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, the UAE Mission to the UN said on its X account.
Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s deputy delegate to the United Nations, said that Russia and the UAE requested a UN Security Council meeting after the raid on a hospital in Gaza City.
“Russia and the UAE requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the morning of October 18 regarding the bombing of a hospital in Gaza,” Polyansky wrote on his Telegram channel.
Health authorities in the besieged Gaza Strip reported that an Israeli air strike killed about 500 Palestinians in a hospital crowded with patients and displaced people in Gaza City.
The airstrike resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including children, and wounded individuals.
The Kingdom unequivocally rejected this brutal attack, deeming it a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions, including international humanitarian law.
It 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 protect innocent civilians.
The Kingdom also emphasised the urgent need to open safe corridors immediately, responding to the pleas from nations and organisations, 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.
A brutal massacre: Qatar
Qatar also condemned the Israeli bombing and considered it a brutal massacre, a heinous crime against defenseless civilians, and a blatant violation of the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law.
The Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed, in a statement, that the expansion of Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip to include civilian objects, including hospitals, schools, and gatherings, is considered a dangerous escalation and portends dire consequences for the security and stability of the region.
Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi issued a statement saying: "I condemn in the strongest of terms Israel's bombardment" on a hospital in Gaza, and calling it a "clear violation of international law".
