UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was horrified by the killing of hundreds of civilians following a strike on a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.
In a tweet, Guterres strongly condemned the strike, adding that his heart is with the families of those who died.
Both sides are blaming each other. The Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled enclave blames the Israeli military for an airstrike which hit al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.
The Israeli Defense Forces tweeted that according to their intelligence information, rockets fired by Islamic Jihad militants towards Israel were responsible, having deviated off course.
Guterres stressed in his message on X that hospitals and all medical personnel are protected under international law, according to UN.
He condemned the strike and an attack earlier on Tuesday on a school run by the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which killed at least six people, his spokesperson said in a statement.
The UN human rights chief described the strike on the hospital as “totally unacceptable”.
“We don’t yet know the full scale of this carnage but what is clear is that the violence and killings must stop at once,” said High Commissioner Volker Turk in a statement.
Displaced civilians were reportedly seeking shelter at the hospital, following Israel’s order to evacuate to the south in advance of what is expected to be a ground assault.
“WHO strongly condemns the attack,” agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
“We call for the immediate protection of civilians and healthcare, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed,” he added.
Human rights chief Turk said hospitals are sacrosanct and must be protected at all cost, adding that “those found responsible must be held to account.”
On Tuesday night in New York, the United Arab Emirates said they along with Russia have called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Palestine, including the strike on the hospital in Gaza City.
Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was operational, with patients, health and caregivers, and internally displaced people sheltering there, WHO said in a statement.
It was one of 20 hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) also took to social media to condemn the strike.
“Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure must cease, and healthcare facilities must never be a target,” the UN’s reproductive and sexual health agency posted on X.
