UNITED NATIONS, October 18. /TASS/. Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have requested to hold an urgent UN Security Council meeting on October 18 over the deadly strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip.
"Russia and the United Arab Emirates requested to hold an urgent UN Security Council meeting in the morning hours of Wednesday, October 18, in connection with the strike on the Gaza hospital," Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
Arab media reported that several powerful blasts rocked central districts of Gaza on Tuesday, dealing major damage to a local hospital building. The Al Hadath television attributed the explosions to an air strike delivered by Israel’s Air Force. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said with reference to "intelligence from multiple sources" that "Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza." According to Al Arabiya’s latest casualty report, the number of those killed and injured in the tragedy has exceeded 800.
Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila told Al Hadath that the Israeli military had demanded that the medical personnel leave the premises of around 20 hospitals in the Gaza Strip, because Israel plans to deliver strikes on them as part of its military operation against HAMAS.