Hospitals not to be attacked during wars: Vatican
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Speaking to Sky TG24, Parolin expressed that the church insists hospitals "should be protected even during the war" adding that "there should be no obstacles for the work of medical staff."
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An injured Palestinian boy is carried from the ground following an Israeli airstrike outside the entrance of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 (AP)
In response to recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin stated Friday that hospitals cannot be attacked in any situation, not even during a war.
Reports revealed that the Israeli occupation forces stormed the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin and forced staff in the emergency department to leave at gunpoint with their hands in the air.
Preliminary reports indicate that two Palestinians were martyred, and three others sustained serious injuries due to occupation bullets.
Speaking to Sky TG24, Parolin expressed that hospitals "should be protected even during the war" adding that "there should be no obstacles for the work of medical staff. The church insists on it."
"Nobody should attack these places."
The Vatican secretary of state described the attacks in the Gaza Strip as an example of the "inhumanity of the war that takes into account nobody and nothing, ignoring even the basic rights of people."
He did not rule out the possibility that certain events and developments in the Gaza Strip could be classified as war crimes by the international community.
The Israeli occupation has reportedly stormed Ibn Sina Hospital in #Jenin, the video shows the Israeli occupation forcing the medical personnel to leave the hospital with their hands in the air.#PalestineGenocide pic.twitter.com/udeDCLNEbj
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 17, 2023
Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila disclosed that as many as 40 Palestinian patients, including three premature babies, have died in the al-Shifa Hospital Complex in the Gaza Strip. The deaths were attributed to the power cut-off from fuel depletion, resulting from the Israeli invading forces' siege on the Complex and constant targeting of the hospital.
"Since November 11 and the start of the siege of the hospital by the Israeli military, as many as 40 people have died, including three newborn children, as a result of the siege and the lack of fuel for electricity. Our medical staff are there without water and food supplies," al-Kaila said.
Al-Shifa Hospital, which accommodates thousands of people seeking shelter from Israeli strikes along with patients, is the sole functioning hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, the minister emphasized.
