Doctor Sobhi Skeik, director of the Turkish Palestinian Hospital, situated just south of Gaza City, said his hospital was damaged by an Israeli strike at 6:30 pm Monday evening. The blast partially destroyed two rooms on the third floor of the small hospital, damaging the building’s oxygen system and water supply.
Quick Read
- An Israeli strike at 6:30 pm Monday evening damaged the Turkish Palestinian Hospital south of Gaza City.
- The strike partially destroyed two rooms on the hospital’s third floor and harmed the building’s oxygen system and water supply.
- Doctor Sobhi Skeik, the hospital’s director, confirmed no casualties since no one was in the rooms at the time.
- The hospital, which specializes in cancer treatment, currently houses 100-150 patients, 200 staff members, and 100 displaced individuals.
- Contrary to earlier refusals, Israeli officials have now granted entry visas to U.N. officials.
- Martin Griffiths, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, confirmed his presence in Israel via a tweet.
- The decision to grant visas comes after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s comments on the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, leading to outrage from Israeli officials.
- Israel’s ambassador in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, confirmed the granting of visas and expressed dissatisfaction with the U.N.’s response to Hamas actions.
- Eilon Shahar stated that multilateral organizations have let down the people of Israel.
The Associated Press has the story:
Israeli strikes damage Oxygen supply system, water at Turkish Palestinian Hospital
Newslooks- CAIRO
Doctor Sobhi Skeik, director of the Turkish Palestinian Hospital, situated just south of Gaza City, said his hospital was damaged by an Israeli strike at 6:30 pm Monday evening. The blast partially destroyed two rooms on the third floor of the small hospital, damaging the building’s oxygen system and water supply.
“Just out of luck no one was in the rooms at the time,” Skiek said. There was no evacuation order from the Israeli army before the strike.
Over the past few days, Skeik said dozens of missile strikes have hit the atmosphere and area surrounding the hospital, which specializes in cancer treatment. He said the hospital is currently housing 100 to 150 patients, 200 staff members and 100 displaced people.
ISRAEL BACKTRACKS ON REFUSING TO GRANT ENTRY VISAS TO UN OFFICIALS
GENEVA — Israeli officials are going back on their promised refusal to grant entry visas to U.N. officials.
Martin Griffiths, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, tweeted Monday that he was in Israel — less than a week after Israel’s U.N. ambassador said it had “refused” to grant Griffiths a visa.
Israeli officials had expressed outrage over comments last Wednesday by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants “did not happen in a vacuum.”
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s U.N. ambassador, accused Guterres on Israel’s Army Radio of justifying a slaughter, called for his resignation and said Israel would “refuse to grant visas to U.N. representatives.”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres stood by his remarks.
On Monday, Israel’s ambassador in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, said, “We haven’t said categorically that we’re not giving visas. We are … We understand their need to be there.”
Eilon Shahar confirmed that Griffiths was in Israel, as well as other officials, including Han Kluge, the regional head of the World Health Organization.
But she continued to voice Israel’s frustration that U.N. institution chiefs didn’t speak out more forcefully against Hamas militants for “butchering civilians and women in such a vicious way.”
“The United Nations has let down the people of Israel,” Eilon Shahar added. “When I say the United Nations, I’m talking about the multilateral organizations have let down the people of Israel.”
