Saudi Arabia leads condemnation of Israeli airstrike on Gaza hospital that killed hundreds

People stand over bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza after they were transported to Al-Shifa hospital, on October 17, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 18 October 2023
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Saudi Arabia leads condemnation of Israeli airstrike on Gaza hospital that killed hundreds

  • Russia’s foreign ministry: Attack was a shocking ‘dehumanizing’ crime
  • King Abdullah calls Gaza hospital bombing a ‘massacre’ and a ‘war crime’ that one cannot be silent about

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday led global condemnations of the Israeli airstrike on a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds.

The Kingdom condemned in the “strongest terms” an Israeli air strike that killed about 500 Palestinians at a Gaza City hospital crammed with patients and displaced people on Tuesday.

“Saudi Arabia categorically rejects this brutal attack, which is a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms, including international humanitarian law,” the foreign ministry said. 

The ministry also denounced Israel for its “continuous attacks against civilians despite many international appeals” to stop.

“This dangerous development forces the international community to abandon double standards and selectivity in applying international humanitarian law when it comes to Israeli criminal practices. It requires a serious and firm stance to provide protection for defenseless civilians,” a ministry statement said. 

The Kingdom also stressed the necessity of opening safe corridors immediately to deliver food and medicine to civilians trapped in Gaza, and said it holds Israeli forces fully responsible for their continued violation of all international norms and laws.

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the strike on the hospital in Gaza was a shocking crime, adding that Israel should provide satellite images to prove that it was not involved in the attack.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Radio Sputnik that the attack was a shocking “dehumanizing” crime.

Here are some of the other global reactions to the brutal strike:

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a statement on Tuesday, saying: “I condemn in the strongest of terms Israel’s bombardment” on a hospital in Gaza, and calling it a “clear violation of intl law.”

Palestinian health authorities said the deaths at the hospital in Gaza were caused by an Israeli air strike, but the Israeli military blamed a failed rocket launch by a Palestinian militant group

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday “nothing can justify targeting civilians” after the 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.

“Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip must be opened without delay.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “horrified” by the deadly strike on a hospital in Gaza, he said in a social media post Tuesday.

“My heart is with the families of the victims. Hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law,” Guterres said in the message on X.

The UAE strongly condemned the Israeli attack in a foreign ministry statement saying it “expresses its deep regret for the loss of life and conveys its condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a swift recovery for all those injured.”

It stressed “the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and to ensure that civilians and civilian institutions are not targeted.” 

The UAE called on the international community to intensify efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of life.

Kuwait on Tuesday “strongly condemned and denounced the Israeli occupation forces' barbaric airstrike on the Baptist Al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of innocent civilians were killed,” the state news agency said.

“The occupation forces targeting of hospitals and public facilities is a violation of the International Humanitarian Law,” a statement by the foreign ministry said.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation also denounced the attack.

OIC chief Hissein Taha considered the attack a “war crime” and a “crime against humanity,” the OIC said on X.

Taha held the Israeli occupation accountable for 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.

The Muslim World League condemned “in the strongest terms” the attack.

MWL chief Sheikh Abdulkarim Al-Issa denounced in a statement this “brutal crime that devoids its perpetrators of all religious and human values, calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities towards protecting civilians from these horrific massacres.” 

Qatar’s foreign ministry also issued a statement in which it strongly condemned the Israeli airstrike saying, “the expansion of Israeli attacks over the Gaza Strip to include hospitals, schools, and other population centers is a dangerous escalation.”

Jordan’s foreign ministry issued a statement on Tuesday strongly condemning the Israeli attack. King Abdullah said Israel’s bombing of the Gaza hospital was a “massacre” and a “war crime” that one cannot be silent about. 

Meanwhile, Turkiye’s foreign ministry condemned in the strongest terms Israel’s “barbaric attack” on the Gaza hospital.

“We are deeply indignant that hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives and many more were injured as a result of the targeting of a hospital in Gaza today, and we condemn these barbaric attacks in the strongest terms,” the Turkish statement said.

EU chief Charles Michel said targeting civilian infrastructure in Gaza breaks international law after a deadly strike on a hospital.

“We got this information when we were together during this virtual meeting with the leaders. It seems to be to be confirmed and an attack against a civilian infrastructure is not in line with international law,” Michel said after a videoconference of EU leaders.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Israeli strike on the hospital in Gaza was “horrific and absolutely unacceptable.”

Trudeau told reporters that “it’s not acceptable to hit a hospital.”

The World Health Organization condemned the deadly Tuesday strike and demanded the immediate protection of civilians and health care in the Palestinian enclave.

“WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital,” the UN health agency’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said Israeli air strikes on the hospital compound sheltering displaced people had killed over 200 people.

“Early reports indicate hundreds of deaths and injuries,” said Tedros.

“We call for the immediate protection of civilians and health care, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed.”

Iran’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the Israeli air strike, saying it had killed and injured hundreds of “unarmed and defenceless people.”

* With AP, AFP and Reuters


Lebanon media says UN peacekeepers hurt in Israeli strike

Updated 5 sec ago
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Lebanon media says UN peacekeepers hurt in Israeli strike

  • National News Agency: ‘Enemy aircraft targeted a car in Sidon near the army checkpoint’
  • Vehicles from the UNIFIL peacekeeping force were in the ‘same lane’ during the raid
SIDON, Lebanon: UN peacekeepers in Lebanon were wounded on Thursday in an Israeli strike near their vehicle at the entrance to the southern city of Sidon, the official National News Agency said.
“Enemy aircraft targeted a car in Sidon near the army checkpoint,” NNA said, adding vehicles from the UNIFIL peacekeeping force were in the “same lane” during the raid, which led to injuries among its members who were receiving treatment at the scene.

Hezbollah does not pin ceasefire hopes on any US administration, lawmaker says

Updated 19 min 17 sec ago
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Hezbollah does not pin ceasefire hopes on any US administration, lawmaker says

BEIRUT: Hezbollah welcomes any effort to stop the war in Lebanon but does not pin its hopes for a ceasefire on any particular US administration, Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim Al-Moussawi said on Thursday, when asked about Donald Trump’s election victory.


France sees ‘window’ to end Gaza, Lebanon wars after Trump win

Updated 37 min 18 sec ago
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France sees ‘window’ to end Gaza, Lebanon wars after Trump win

JERUSALEM: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday in Jerusalem he saw prospects for ending Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Donald Trump was elected US president.
“I believe a window has opened for putting an end to the tragedy in which Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region have been immersed since October 7” last year, Barrot told reporters in Jerusalem.
Speaking alongside outgoing Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Barrot cited Trump’s “wish to see the end of the Middle East’s endless wars” as well as Israel’s recent “tactical successes.”
Barrot said he hoped a “diplomatic solution” would emerge “in the coming weeks.”
“Force alone will not be enough to guarantee Israel’s security,” he said, adding that “military success could not be a substitute for a political perspective.”
“It is time to move toward a deal that would allow for the liberation of all hostages, a ceasefire and the mass entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to prepare for the day after.”
Barrot said “Israel has the right to defend itself” but pointed to “colonization,” “humanitarian aid restrictions” and “the continuation of air strikes in north Gaza” as risk factors for Israel’s security.
Barrot is expected to speak with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas and his prime minister, Muhammad Mustafa


Israel signs $5.2 billion deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing

Updated 57 min 56 sec ago
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Israel signs $5.2 billion deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing

  • The $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid
  • Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031

JERUSALEM: The Israeli defense ministry said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing Co.
It said the $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid approved by the US administration and Congress earlier this year and included an option for 25 additional aircraft.
Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031, with 4-6 aircraft to be supplied annually, it said.
The aircraft will be equipped with weapons systems integrated with existing Israeli weapons as well as having increased range and payloads.
“These advantages will enable the Israeli Air Force to maintain its strategic superiority in addressing current and future challenges in the Middle East,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This F-15 squadron, alongside the third F-35 squadron procured earlier this year, represents a historic enhancement of our air power and strategic reach — capabilities that proved crucial during the current war,” the director general of the defense ministry, Eyal Zamir, said in the statement.
Zamir said that the government has secured procurement agreements worth nearly $40 billion since the onset of the war in Gaza that began Oct. 7, 2023.
“While focusing on immediate needs for advanced weaponry and ammunition at unprecedented levels, we’re simultaneously investing in long-term strategic capabilities,” he said.
For Boeing, the F-15 agreement is the second major deal this year. In August, flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines, signed a deal with Boeing for the purchase of up to 31 737 MAX aircraft worth as much as $2.5 billion, beating out rival Airbus.
Ido Nehushtan, president of Boeing Israel, said the company’s relationship dates back to Israel’s establishment and “will continue working with the US and Israeli governments to deliver the advanced F-15IA aircraft through standard military procurement channels.”


Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation

Updated 07 November 2024
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Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken by phone with US president-elect Donald Trump to discuss cooperation between the two countries, the presidency said on Thursday.
Erdogan “congratulated Trump on his election victory” and “expressed his desire to develop cooperation between Turkiye and the United States in the period ahead,” it said in a statement.
Erdogan was twice hosted at the White House by Trump during his first term, but has never been received there by current President Joe Biden.