Russia and UAE request UN Security Council meeting over attack on hospital in Gaza

Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have requested a meeting of the UN Security Council (SC) on October 18 in connection with the attack on a hospital in the Gaza Strip. reported First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the world organization Dmitry Polyansky in his Telegram channel.

“Russia and the UAE requested an urgent open meeting of the UN Security Council on the morning of October 18 in connection with the attack on a hospital in Gaza,” he wrote.

On the evening of October 17th it became known about the attack on Al-Ahly hospital in the Gaza Strip, which could have killed hundreds of people. The Palestinian side blamed Israeli forces for the strike, which killed about 600 civilians, according to Hamas.

The Israeli army (IDF) said they were checking the information, and later linked the incident to an unsuccessful rocket launch by Islamic Jihad (an organization recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia), also based in Gaza.

“From an analysis of the IDF’s operational systems, it appears that an enemy rocket attack was launched towards Israel and was in the immediate vicinity of the hospital when it was struck,” the agency stated on its X page.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning for the dead, and then, according to media reports, refused from participating with the leaders of the US, Jordan and Egypt.

On October 7, the radical group Hamas began military operations against Israel. The militants attacked army border units and entered Israeli populated areas, where they captured an unknown number of hostages, both military and civilian. In response, the Israeli army launched Operation Iron Swords, and the government declared the country was going into a state of war.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on the situation in the region on October 17, accused the UN Security Council of inaction. The Foreign Ministry also accused the UN Security Council of not organizing an open meeting on the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone and consultations of delegations with interested countries for further steps.