VAM News Update

Over 500 people have reportedly been killed in an attack on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital located in the Gaza Strip.

The hospital, situated in the Gaza Strip, is where thousands of displaced Palestinian civilians are seeking medical treatment and shelter from attacks.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, the attack was carried out by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday.

Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson of the IDF, had said the forces did not have any knowledge regarding what happened at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.

“We will get the details and update the public. I don’t know to say whether it was an Israeli air strike,” he said.

But in a later report, Hagari said the explosion was caused by a failed rocket launched by Hamas, the political and militant movement in Gaza.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also issued a statement condemning the deadly strike on the hospital in the Gaza Strip.

The global health body demanded the immediate protection of civilians and health caregivers.

“The hospital was operational, with patients, health- and caregivers, and internally displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries,” the statement reads.

“The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced.

“WHO calls for the immediate active protection of civilians and health care. Evacuation orders must be reversed.

“International humanitarian law must be abided by, which means health care must be actively protected and never targeted.”