Africa: AU Chief Mahamat Says Israeli Attacks Are War Crimes After Gaza Hospital Bombing

Ecrusized / Rr016 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The Gaza Strip in Israel, October 2023.
18 October 2023
allAfrica.com
By Jerry Chifamba

Harare — Moussa Faki Mahamat, the head of the African Union, said that Israel committed a "war crime" after the fatal attack on a Gaza strip hospital on Tuesday, October 17.

"There are no words to fully express our condemnation of Israel's bombing of a #Gaza hospital today, killing hundreds of people. Targeting a hospital, considered a safe haven under International Humanitarian Law, is a war crime. The International Community must act now," Mahamat wrote on X.

At least 200 people died on the hospital facility, housing displaced Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian region controlled by Hamas. However, the Israeli army said that Palestinian militants affiliated with Hamas and members of Islamic Jihad misfired the rocket.

Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed 3,000 people throughout the Gaza Strip. Over 1,400 people died in Israel, most of them reportedly killed by Hamas militants who invaded border towns after crossing from Gaza.

The 33 African nations that are members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) were urged by the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) to advocate for an extensive ICC probe into allegations of serious war crimes and human rights abuses in Gaza.

South Africa offered to mediate in the dispute.

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