By: Natasha Archary

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has condemned the deadly airstrike on a Gaza Hospital which claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinian civilians.
On Tuesday, 17 October, the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the Gaza strip was the target of a missile attack which has reportedly killed at least 500 people.
While the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) blames the attack on Islamic Jihad, the Gaza Health Ministry reports that it was an Israeli air raid on the hospital.
The IDF says it was a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Group.
Al Ahli was sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinian civilians before the attack, and was one of the hospitals that had reportedly been given evacuation orders from the Israeli military, according to WHO.
Meanwhile, WHO reports that medical aid has been stuck at the Gaza border for days.
“WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the north of the Gaza strip. The hospital was operational, with patients, health and care givers, and internally sheltering displaced people there.
Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries. The hospital was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
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 abide by, which means health care must be actively protected and never targeted.”
WHO statement on attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital and reported large-scale casualties
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 17, 2023
WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip. The hospital was operational, with patients, health and care givers, and internally displaced people… pic.twitter.com/iduiD0pA3q
On Wednesday, 18 October, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, saying too many lives and the fate of an entire region hangs in the balance.
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