Morocco “strongly condemns” Israeli troops’ attack on Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza yesterday, killing more than 500 Palestinians and injuring hundreds of others, stated Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday in a press release.
The Kingdom reiterated its call to all parties in the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians.
The Palestinian health ministry’s spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qudra, asserted early Wednesday that hundreds had died in the hospital blast and that rescue teams were still retrieving remains from the wreckage.
In the hours following the bombing, a Gaza civil defense official reported 300 people were dead, while Palestinian health ministry sources placed the tally at 500.
The death toll of Palestinians in this hospital bombing has been by far the greatest of any of the attacks that have occurred so far during the current escalating conflict, sparking protests in the occupied West Bank, Istanbul, Amman, and several Moroccan cities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the hospital was struck by “barbaric terrorists” in Gaza, not Israel’s military.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesperson, told reporters that rockets fired by Hamas had passed by the hospital during the attack, which he said targeted the facility’s parking area.
Hamas denied that any of its rockets had hit the hospital, nor that it had any activity around the city at that time.
The catastrophe will “put a pall” on Biden’s trip to Israel to express sympathy with the Jewish state and to advocate that humanitarian aid be permitted to be delivered into Gaza and meet with other leaders, said the White House. However, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority have all canceled their summit meeting with President Biden scheduled to take place afterward in Jordan.
Russia and the United Arab Emirates called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) following the hospital attack.
Earlier on Tuesday, the UN reported that Israel had targeted one of its schools, where at least 4,000 people were taking refuge. The strike killed six individuals and wounded many more.
On Monday, the UNSC voted on a draft resolution proposed by Russia calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Specifically, the resolution provided for a stop to the violence and civilian suffering, freeing the hostages, averting the humanitarian disaster looming over the enclave, and preventing the hostilities from spilling over to other countries in the region.
The Western “troika” of the US, UK, and France used their veto to abort the resolution.
Before last night’s hospital bombing carnage, health officials in Gaza reported at least 3,000 people had been killed in the territory as a result of Israel’s now 11-day bombing campaign launched in response to Hamas’ “Al Aqsa Flood” attack on Oct. 7, which caused more than 1,300 Israeli deaths.