The reports that at least 500 more Palestinian civilians have been killed in Gaza in the attack on Al Ahli hospital has sparked outrage around the world and in Türkiye. The photo shows the Palestinian Ministry of Health and hospital officials blaming Israel for the attack amidst lifeless bodies and rubble. (Photo: AA)
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on October 17 that 500 people were killed and hundreds wounded in the Al Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, which was hit by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
Palestinian Deputy Health Minister Yousef Er-Rish made a statement in front of the dead bodies and ruins after the attack, saying that after the first attack on the hospital on October 14, an Israeli official called the hospital director and asked why they did not evacuate the hospital immediately.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claimed that the Islamic Jihad organization was responsible for the attack on the hospital.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, “Israel has crossed all red lines. We will not let them kick us out of here.”
Following the news that Israel hit a hospital in Gaza, protests were organized in many places around the World, including Türkiye. Protesters gathered in front of the Israeli Embassy in Ankara and burned Israeli and US flags. Police were able to disperse protesters in front of the Israeli Consulate General in Istanbul using pressurized water and tear gas.
Israel asked its citizens to leave Türkiye for security reasons.
Joint reaction from Türkiye
President Tayyip Erdogan said on social media, “Shooting a hospital with women, children and innocent civilians is the latest example of Israel’s attacks devoid of the most basic humanitarian values.”
All six political parties’ parliamentary groups in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye reacted with a joint statement saying, “We invite the world parliaments, international community and organizations to take a stance and initiative to stop this atrocity.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the “Israeli attack” on a hospital in Gaza as “barbaric” and said, “It is inevitable that a mentality that directly targets civilians, hits hospitals and schools will be held accountable before international law and conscience.”
International reactions
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned “the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a hospital attack” on his social media account. Guterres emphasized that hospitals and medical workers are protected by international law.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which will meet today on 18 October with the agenda of the Gaza offensive that began with the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, condemned in a written statement the Israeli strike on the hospital in Gaza as “organized state terrorism”, “war crime” and “crime against humanity”.
The European Union has not yet taken a clear position on the attack in Gaza. Foreign Policy and Security Officer Josep Borell called for the perpetrators to be found, while EU Council President Charles Michel said that “attacks on civilian infrastructure are not in accordance with international law”.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at EP plenary debate on October 19 begined her speech saying “Hamas’ terror has plunged Israel and Palestine into a new spiral of violence.”
“There is no excuse for hiting a hospital full of civilians. All facts needs to be established and those responsible must be held accountable and at this tragic hour we must double our efforts to protect civilians from the fury of this war,” she said.
Gaza hospital attack and the US
Jordan’s King Abdullah II canceled a quadrilateral meeting in Amman today to be held with US President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas amid reports of hospital bombings in Gaza. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Sefedi said that if the summit is to take place, they expect it to result in “an end to the war and the delivery of aid to the Palestinians and respect for their rights.”
US President Joe Biden, on a support visit to Israel after deploying two flotillas of aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean and mobilizing troops in the region, expressed his “deep condolences” for the “innocent lives” lost in the “explosion at the hospital”.
Former Turkish President Abdullah Gül said on his English-language social media account that it was “shameful” and “a great risk and irresponsibility” for Biden not to cancel his visit to Israel under these circumstances.
The fact that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in a meeting with the Israeli War Cabinet at the time the hospital was hit is fueling international outrage against the United States. Blinken had sought support for Israel from Arab governments, only to come up empty-handed.
Al Ahli Hospital
The full name of the Al Ahli (People’s) hospital in Gaza is Eh Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital. Most Western media outlets did not report the full name of the hospital, which has been operating in Gaza since 1882. As the name suggests, the hospital was founded by Christian missionaries with the special permission of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II as an affiliate of the Church of England, and is still run by the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem.
On October 14, the hospital was hit by rockets fired from Israel, which demanded its immediate evacuation.
