The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) is deeply horrified by the horrendous air strike by Israel on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in central Gaza, an attack that amounts to state terrorism and a war crime.

More than 471 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.

Footage on social media showed corpses scattered across the hospital grounds. Displaced civilians were seeking shelter at the hospital, following Israel’s order to evacuate to the south in advance of what is expected to be a ground assault.

The strike breaches all international human rights and humanitarian laws and conventions. Thousands of Palestinians were at the hospital when the building came under bombardment.

Israel continues to commit war crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza with unprecedented support from its western allies.

Israel and its allies should be held accountable for the consequences of such a terrifying crime and brutal attacks against the Palestinian people, which contradict all human values and constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

At the same time, PRC rebuffs false Israeli claims about airstrikes on the hospital in Gaza. Investigative reports found out that the type ammunition used in the attack has been the same as the one used by Israel in days of intense bombardment targeting civilians and vital facilities in the area.

We call on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to urgently intervene in response to Israel’s unabated genocides against civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Civilians have sought shelter in these hospitals because they expected they were safe places. Now, even a hospital is not a safe place anymore in Gaza.

PRC calls for the immediate protection of civilians and healthcare, and for the Israeli evacuation orders to be reversed.

UN data indicates there have been over 115 attacks on healthcare across the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the start of the conflict on 7 October.

Gaza has a population of more than two million and the Israeli offensives has displaced some 600,000 people.  Many have sought safety in hospitals which are already overwhelmed with rising casualties and deaths, and as fuel and medical supplies dwindle.