An Israeli officer points at what he describes as a grab bag containing a rifle and other munitions belonging to a Hamas fighter that was discovered behind an MRI machine at the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid the Israeli military's ground operation against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza City, November 15, 2023 in this still image taken from video. Israeli forces said the "beating heart" of the Hamas fighters' operations was headquartered in tunnels beneath the hospital. Hamas denied the accusation and on Wednesday dismissed the Israeli statements as "lies and cheap propaganda." Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Thursday that Israel ought to be held accountable for its infringements against civilians and medical personnel, particularly concerning the Israeli raid on one of Gaza’s largest hospitals.
The ministry said in a statement shared on platform X that the Kingdom denounces and rejects Israel’s raid on Al-Shifa Hospital a day earlier as well as the bombing of the vicinity of the Jordanian field hospital.
“The Kingdom emphasizes the need to activate international accountability mechanisms as a result of the continuous violations and the brutal and inhumane acts by the Israeli occupation forces against children, women, civilians, medical facilities and rescue teams,” the ministry said.
It added that such acts are “a blatant violation to the international humanitarian law and all international norms and charters and an explicit targeting of civilians and medical staff.”
Israeli forces raided the Al-Shifa Hospital in the early hours of Wednesday after claiming that Hamas militants have a command center beneath the premises.
Automatic weapons, grenades, ammunition and flak jackets were recovered from an undisclosed building within the complex, the Israeli army said after the raid.
The hospital has been a refuge for many civilians sheltering at the facility in the aftermath of the Israeli war on Gaza that came after Hamas militants stormed across the Israeli border on October 7 and carried out an attack that left 1,200 people dead.
Retaliatory Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 11,500 people, including at least 4,710 children and 3,160 women.
The dire situation in the Gaza Strip prompted the United Nations Security Council to eventually adopt a resolution on Wednesday evening calling for an urgent pause in fighting for several days to allow access of humanitarian aid.
In a separate statement on Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry welcomed the vote, saying it was “the first move in the right direction” by the international community in order to take action and hold Israeli forces accountable for its actions.
