DAILY SABAH – October 17, 2023
500+ Palestinians killed in ruthless Israeli airstrike on Gaza hospital
Over 500 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Baptist hospital in Gaza, Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday.
Husam Abu Safeya, head doctor for MedGlobal, a Chicago-based nongovernmental organization (NGO), cited his colleague Husam Abu Safeya, a doctor working in northern Gaza as saying: “We can’t deal with the large number of deaths and injuries. Most victims are women and children sleeping in the hospital. We expect more hospitals to be bombed. There is no safe place in Gaza.”
Footage showed corpses scattered across the hospital grounds.
“Hundreds of victims are still under the rubble,” a spokesperson was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The media office of Gaza’s Hamas government described the attack as a “war crime.” “The hospital was housing hundreds of sick and wounded, and people forcibly displaced from their homes” because of other strikes, a statement said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning following the deadly airstrike on the hospital in Gaza. “What is taking place is genocide. We call on the international community to intervene immediately to stop this massacre. Silence is no longer acceptable,” a statement issued by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said in response to the attack.
Palestinian group Hamas called Israel’s targeting of the hospital a “genocide.”
The airstrike came on day 11 in the current conflict, with a growing international chorus of NGOs and world leaders saying the Israeli bombing campaign on the besieged Gaza Strip – including health care facilities, homes, and houses of worship – violates international law and may constitute a war crime.
Around 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since the war erupted on Oct. 7.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed.
Earlier on Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Israel hit health services in Gaza 41 times since Oct. 7.
“Since Oct. 7, there have been 41 confirmed attacks on health care services in Gaza. A total of 11 health care workers have been killed while on active duty, and 16 have been injured. As the attacks continue, these numbers are likely to increase,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said Tuesday, in response to a question by Anadolu Agency (AA) on the state of health care in Gaza.
https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/500-killed-in-ruthless-israeli-airstrike-on-gaza-hospital
DAILY SABAH – October 18, 2023
Protesters around the world rage against Gaza hospital attack
Turkish people took to the streets following an Israeli attack at a hospital in besieged Gaza that killed hundreds. Gathering around Israeli diplomatic missions and elsewhere, angry crowds denounced the massacre as similar protests were being held across the world
Thousands of protesters across the world poured into the streets overnight Tuesday to protest the inhumane Israeli attack on a Gaza Strip hospital that killed hundreds of civilians. In Türkiye, a champion of the Palestinian cause, rallies erupted in most of 81 provinces to condemn the attack.
Several Muslim countries also announced days of mourning for the victims.
The Presidency of Religious Affairs (DIB) announced that funeral prayers in absentia would be performed in all mosques in Türkiye following noon prayers. Noon prayers will also be preceded by sala, a form of Muslim call to prayer that is usually recited by muezzins at mosques before funerals and days of mourning.
In a rare display of unity, all political parties in the Turkish Parliament issued joint statement strongly condemning Israel's "crime against humanity" after the attack on the hospital in Gaza. The joint statement called on other legislatures across world to take similar stance and take the initiative to immediately stop Israel's barbarity.
In Amman, demonstrators tried to attack the Israeli Embassy, Jordan’s official Petra news agency reported. Jordanian security sources denied reports that the building had been stormed.
The protesters had been removed from the area, they said. Videos on social media showed protesters shouting at the embassy.
In Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, hundreds protested in front of the French Embassy after the incident, state agency Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) reported. In Baghdad, Iraq, hundreds gathered in the city center, according to eyewitnesses.
In the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, hundreds of Hezbollah supporters demanded that Tel Aviv be bombed. In central Beirut, police used tear gas against demonstrators near the U.S. Embassy, according to witnesses.
In Iran, the state news agency Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) showed a crowd in Tehran chanting “Down with Israel.” The Iranian government declared Wednesday a day of mourning. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson strongly condemned the attack and blamed Israel.
Crowds marched outside the British Embassy, waving Palestinian flags. There were also protests in front of the French mission.
Hundreds of people were killed and injured in the Israeli missile strike on the hospital in the Gaza Strip, according to the local Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, in Germany’s capital, Berlin, police intervened to break up a pro-Palestinian vigil. According to police, more than 300 people had gathered at the Brandenburg Gate – a Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) photographer estimated the crowd at about 1,000.
Police said on the social media platform X that clashes broke out when police officers prevented protesters from marching further.
All victims of Gaza hospital blast were civilians
All victims of Tuesday’s deadly strike on a public hospital in the Gaza Strip were civilians, a spokesperson for the enclave’s health ministry said.
“All those killed in the attack on the hospital in Gaza were civilians,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera. “All the wounded were civilians, too.”
“Never before, in any other conflict that broke out between the Palestinians and the Israelis, was this hospital ever under attack,” he said. “We are now concerned about other hospitals in the enclave.”
Arab media reported that several powerful blasts rocked central districts of Gaza on Tuesday, dealing major damage to a local hospital building. The Al Hadath television attributed the explosions to an air strike delivered by Israel’s Air Force. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that “Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.”
According to Al Arabiya’s latest casualty report, the number of those killed and injured in the tragedy has exceeded 800.
https://www.pressenza.com/2023/10/all-victims-of-gaza-hospital-blast-were-civilians-health-ministry/
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