Jordan describes Israeli bombing near its field hospital in Gaza as 'war crime'

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - Jordan’s foreign minister issued a statement Wednesday condemning an Israeli bombing in the vicinity of the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza, describing it as a "war crime."

Speaking in an interview with the local Al-Mamlaka TV channel, Ayman Safadi said Jordan is awaiting the results of an investigation by its army into the bombing in order "to take necessary legal, diplomatic and political measures."

He also affirmed that Israel as the occupying power under international humanitarian law is not only obliged to protect the hospital but to not obstruct its operations.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Jordanian army said in a statement that seven of the hospital staff were injured by an Israeli bombing when they were trying to help Palestinians hit by an Israeli airstrike.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.

The government media office in Gaza on Wednesday announced that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 has risen to 11,500, including 4,710 children and 3,160 women.

“The number of deaths among medical personnel has reached 200,” the office said in a statement on Telegram.

It further said that 22 civil defense personnel and 51 journalists have also been killed, while the number of injured people has reached 29,800, with about 70% of them women and children.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel's relentless air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave since last month.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.