17- October-2023- Aljazeera
Israel kills 500 in Gaza hospital ‘massacre’
- An Israeli air strike has hit al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City where thousands of civilians are seeking medical treatment and shelter from relentless attacks.
- Gaza health ministry says at least 500 casualties in hospital blast. A UN-run school housing refugees also struck.
- The attack comes a day before US President Joe Biden visits Israel, where he is expected to stress American support for the country.
- A planned summit with President Biden in Jordan has been cancelled, the Jordanian government says.
- Some 3,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Hamas’s October 7 attack inside Israel, which has killed more than 1,400.
There are no words to fully express our condemnation of Israel’s bombing of a #Gaza hospital today, killing hundreds of people. Targeting a hospital, considered a safe haven under International Humanitarian Law, is a war crime. The International Community must act now.
Jordan cancels summit with Biden, Arab leaders in Amman
Jordan has cancelled a summit it was to host in Amman on Wednesday with Biden and the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders to discuss the situation in Gaza.
The announcement came after hundreds of civilians were killed in the hospital air attack.
“There is no use in talking now about anything except stopping the war,” Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.
Biden was expected to meet the Arab leaders following a solidarity visit to Israel. He left Washington, DC early on Wednesday. What he could accomplish in the wake of the hospital strike is unclear.
Gaza – African States Urged to Lobby International Criminal Court
The Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) has called on the 33 African states that are members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to lobby for a full ICC investigation into reports of grave human rights violations and war crimes in Gaza.
GroundUp reports that the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that 2,750 civilians, including women and children, have died since the outbreak of the Hamas/Israel conflict a week ago. A further 9,700 civilians were reported injured. Israel has reported over 1,400 deaths, most of them civilians killed by Hamas militants who entered Israel on October7, 2023
In a letter to the relevant Presidents and Foreign Affairs ministers, SALC – an organisation that promotes human rights – said atrocities such as the killing and targeting of innocent civilians in Gaza had to be stopped, investigated and prosecuted “no matter on which side of this conflict they occurred”.
The African Union and African presidents and foreign ministers earlier called for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.
South Africa offered to mediate in the dispute – but it’s unclear whether the African National Congress government has the diplomatic skills, the clout and the impartiality to be an honest broker, writes Peter Fabricius for the Daily Maverick.
Read AllAfrica’s summary of African responses to the war.
