‘Gaza hospital strike constitutes war crime’ – Cabinet

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has described the strike on Gaza‘s al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital as a war crime.

Ntshavheni was addressing a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday.

At least 1 400 people have died in the conflict since 7 October, when Gaza-based Hamas launched missiles into Israel.

Since then, Israel has besieged the Palestinian enclave, launching wave after wave of air strikes, enforcing a blockade and deploying tens of thousands of troops to the border in preparation for an expected ground assault.

Ceasefire

Ntshavheni called for an end to hostilities in the region.

“Since last week, thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed, and far more injured. Many violations of international law have been committed, by all sides, and Cabinet calls for accountability and justice in response to all those crimes.

“Cabinet condemned the cowardly attack by Hamas that killed and injured innocent people. Similarly, Cabinet condemned the heinous opportunism of the Israeli government to use Hamas’ cowardice to continue its genocide against the people of Palestine.” Ntshavheni said.

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al-Ahli Arab Baptist hospital probe

On Tuesday, anger spiked after Gaza’s al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital was bombed.

The health ministry in Gaza claimed 471 people had died as a result, blaming an Israeli air strike. But Israel denied responsibility, saying an initial investigation showed the strike was caused by a malfunctioning rocket fired by Palestinian group “Islamic Jihad”.

Ntshavheni said the bombing of the hospital must be probed.

“Cabinet calls on the international community not to allow the perpetration of another holocaust under its watch. The Jewish holocaust is enough stain in the history of mankind for the international community to fold its arms while the Israeli government perpetrate a Palestinian holocaust.”

“Cabinet condemns the bombing by the Israeli government of the al-Ahli Arab Baptist hospital in Gaza that killed well over 500 people and injuring over 1000, is in fact a war crime which is the most blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law. [We] call on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to immediately act against  this breach.” Ntshavheni said.

Ntshavheni said the “failure to act meaningfully by both the ICC and the United Nations will be a demonstration of the total collapse of a Rules-Based multilateral system”.

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