Middle East
Iraqis standing in solidarity with Palestine following an attack on al-Ahli Baptist Hospitals in the Gaza Strip on October 18, 2023. Photo: INA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s government on Tuesday announced three days of national mourning following a deadly rocket attack on al-Ahli al-Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza, calling on the international community to stop the Israeli aggression on the strip.
The rocket attack killed at least 500 people according to the Gaza health ministry. Israel denied involvement and blamed the carnage on a “failed rocket launch” from the “Islamic jihadists.”
“We declare general mourning throughout the Republic of Iraq for three days, out of loyalty to, and in honor of the innocent souls who fell victim to international silence before they fell victim to the fire of barbaric aggression,” read a statement from Bassem al-Awadi, the Iraqi government’s spokesperson.
The Iraqi government reiterated its support of Palestinians’ right to a “free and dignified life on their own soil,” calling on Arab countries, as well as “friendly countries and the free world” to “adopt a unified position by issuing an urgent and immediate resolution from the UN Security Council to stop this ugly and blatant aggression.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani late on Tuesday night issued an order to all public servants, government employees, university and school students across Iraq to perform a “stand of solidarity and mourning” for the souls of the hospital massacre victims.
On Tuesday the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) condemned the attack on al-Ahli Hospital in a statement released by Spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani.
“We emphasize that war and military attacks are not solutions to problems and we call on the international community to intensify its efforts to protect civilians and innocent people from the dangers,” read the statement.
The foreign ministry of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank blamed Israel for the attack and accused it of committing a “massacre”, and called on the UN Security Council to condemn and end what they called “carnage and unhinged impunity”.
Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said that the Israeli army had threatened the hospital two days before the attack, adding that “The Israeli occupation carried out its threat to commit a massacre inside the hospital, resulting in hundreds of casualties.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that “An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit, adding that “Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.”
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