The United Nations voiced alarm on Thursday (November 12) over an Israeli airstrike on southern Gaza's main hospital that it said killed six people, injured 27 others and caused extensive damage to the medical facility, Reuters reports.
UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said Ramiz Alakbarov, the acting UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, stressed that hospitals and medical personnel must be protected under international humanitarian law.
Haq said Alakbarov warned that intensified military operations were worsening human suffering in Gaza and putting an increasingly fragile ceasefire at risk. He reiterated calls for safe and unhindered humanitarian access, including shelter materials and winter supplies.
Haq relayed comments by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that WHO had documented more than 1,000 attacks on health care in Gaza since October 2023.
A separate strike hit near UN facilities in Deir al-Balah where staff were sheltering, Haq said, adding all personnel were accounted for.
