DOHA, Qatar
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called Monday for the formation of an international committee to look into “the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
The country’s stance was made in a statement condemning the Israeli bombing of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza which left several Palestinians dead and injured.
The Foreign Ministry considered the bombing of the Indonesian Hospital “an extension of the (Israeli) occupation’s approach in targeting hospitals, schools and population centers” across Gaza, which is a “blatant violation” of international law and the Geneva Convention.
It also urged “the international community to take urgent action to deter Israel from committing further massacres and provide necessary protection for over two thousand displaced people seeking refuge in the (Indonesian) hospital.”
Earlier on Monday, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said that 12 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others were injured as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the Indonesian Hospital.
The ministry accused the Israeli army of seeking to turn the hospital into “a mass grave.”
It added that the hospital was the only one partially functioning in Gaza City and the northern Gaza region, as all other hospitals in Gaza City had become non-operational, including Al-Shifa Hospital, which is currently under Israeli military control.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.
Authorities in Gaza said Monday that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 has jumped to over 13,300.
In a statement, the Gaza-based government’s media office said the death toll includes 5,600 children and 3,550 women.
It added that it also includes 201 medical staff, 22 members of civil defense rescue teams and 60 journalists.
Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s relentless air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave.
The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.
