CAIRO, October 18. /TASS/. The Hamas movement has appealed to the Palestinian authorities and human rights organizations to file lawsuits with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to bring those responsible for committing crimes against Palestinians to justice.
"[We call on] the Palestinian authorities and human rights organizations to take action and send lawsuits to the ICC without delay to hold the [Israeli] leadership accountable for the crimes, massacres and genocide against our defenseless people, the latest episode of which was the hospital massacre [in Gaza]," Hamas said in a statement posted on the Telegram channel of Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the movement's politburo.
On Tuesday, the Al-Hadath television channel reported that Israeli airstrikes on the central part of Gaza City had hit a hospital. According to the Gaza Strip’s health ministry, 471 people were killed and 342 more wounded in the attack on the Al-Ahli Hospital. Palestine put the blame on the Israeli military. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied responsibility, saying in a statement that the powerful explosion in the hospital had resulted from a misfired rocket launched by the Islamic Jihad group. Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon all declared a period of mourning. A four-way summit in Amman, which was expected to bring together Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, US President Joe Biden, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan, was canceled after the strike.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement attacked Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Israel has announced a total blockade of Gaza and carried out strikes on targets inside Lebanon and Syria. Hostilities have also broken out on the West Bank. More than 3,400 Palestinians have been killed in clashes and strikes, while over 12,000 have suffered wounds since the renewed outbreak of violence began. In Israel, more than 1,500 people have lost their lives and over 4,500 have been wounded.