Greek leftist parties denounce attack on Gaza hospital

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - Greek leftist parties are on Wednesday denouncing a deadly attack on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip.

“The enormous responsibilities of the Israeli governments for the continued occupation of Palestinian territory, for the settlements, and for the tension at the Al-Aqsa Mosque are also a given and condemnable, but they are no excuse for these heinous actions by Hamas,” said former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras from the SYZIZA party. “And in any case, it is inconceivable that the EU leadership is simply a spectator of a vicious circle of violence that is getting worse every day, with thousands of civilians dead, and that it cannot support a European initiative to protect civilians, for a ceasefire, for the return of abductees and to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

Main opposition SYRIZA said: “SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance strongly condemns Israel's media-reported bombing of a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds, which constitutes a war crime."

“We reiterate the urgent need for an initiative by the international community, with strong EU support, to protect civilians, avert a humanitarian crisis, and, above all, a ceasefire,” it added.

"The State of Israel is now committing unbelievable atrocities. The bombing of a hospital in Gaza that has reportedly killed hundreds, including many women and children, shows that they do not hesitate in the face of any crime,” the Greek Communist Party (KKE) said late Tuesday,

It criticized the conservative New Democracy (ND) government’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict and insisted there should be no contact with the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

And the social-democratic PASOK party's parliamentary spokesperson Dimitris Mantzos said the attack, which he characterized as a war crime, begs for a detailed investigation, according to Greece’s state-run news agency, AMNA.

"Palestine is again becoming the theatre of a modern tragedy with unpredictable consequences and risks. Terrorism is condemned. International law provides an inalienable right to self defence. But, war has its own rules. Sacred and inviolable rules that dictate the protection of civilians and the uninterrupted provision of humanitarian aid to people in conflict zones and, of course, the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages that Hamas is holding," he said.

Mantzos highlighted the need to lift the Gaza blockade for necessities and to reopen corridors for humanitarian aid as international organizations, the UN and the EU have repeatedly asked.

More than 500 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza late Tuesday, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told Anadolu.

Footage on social media showed bodies scattered across the hospital grounds.

Thousands of Palestinians were at the hospital when the building came under bombardment, according to an Anadolu reporter on the ground.