MOSCOW, Oct 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia and the United Arab Emirates called Tuesday for an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting following the deadly strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip that left at least 200 dead.
“Russia and the United Arab Emirates have called for an urgent public meeting of the United Nations Security Council in the morning of October 18 over the strike on a Gaza hospital,” the Russian ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanski, said on Telegram.
The Security Council on Monday already rejected a Russian resolution condemning spiralling violence in the Middle East.
Delegates had refused to back a motion that did not single out Hamas for its surprise attack on Israel that left at least 1,400 people dead.
Israel has responded to the attack with air strikes that have left about 3,000 Gazans dead.
The council instead plans to vote on a second text, proposed by Brazil, with unequivocal language condemning the Islamist group and which appears to have broader support.
The vote was originally planned for Tuesday evening, but was then postponed for Wednesday at around 1400 GMT.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “horrified” by the deadly strike on a hospital in Gaza that left at least 200 people dead, he said in a social media post Tuesday.
“My heart is with the families of the victims. Hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law,” Guterres said in the message on X, formerly Twitter.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was “outraged” by a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital and had told security advisors to gather more details.
“I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted,” Biden said in a statement as he headed on a visit to Israel. — NNN-AGENCIES
