Russia calls on UN Security Council to condemn strike on Gaza hospital

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia's deputy envoy to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said on Wednesday that the draft of the Brazilian resolution on the situation in Palestine lacks call for an immediate cease-fire and condemnation of an attack by Israel on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in central Gaza.

"There are two major drawbacks to this project: the presence of a wording condemning exclusively the actions of Hamas, but not the bombing of Israel in Gaza, which makes it political and unbalanced; the absence of a call for an immediate cease-fire," Polyansky wrote on Telegram.

The diplomat said Russia added to amendments to the draft, one of which condemns strikes on the Gaza Strip in general, and the second calls for a humanitarian cease-fire.

The Brazilian draft largely coincides with the Russian document rejected by the UN Security Council on Monday.

It also expresses extreme concern about the deterioration of the situation in the region and the numerous civilian casualties, indicating that a long-term solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can only be achieved by peaceful means.

The document contains a "strong condemnation" of any violence against the civilian population, as well as a call for the immediate release of hostages.

More than 500 people were killed in the Israeli airstrike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on Tuesday, according to Palestinian officials in the besieged enclave. Israel, however, has denied responsibility for the air raid.

The conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air. It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza is experiencing a dire humanitarian crisis with no electricity, while water, food, fuel and medical supplies are running out.

- Medvedev holds US responsible for strike on hospital in Gaza

In a separate statement, deputy head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev slammed the attack as a "monstrous war crime," for which the "US is responsible."

"The monstrous attack on a hospital in the Gaza Strip is certainly a war crime. And the final responsibility for it is borne by those who cynically earn money from wars in different countries and on different continents. Who thoughtlessly distributes colossal money for weapons, loading their military-industrial complex. Who falsely broadcasts about their global mission to protect democratic values. The United States of America," he wrote on Telegram.

- Zakharova calls strike on hospital 'act of dehumanization'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also decried the attack as an "act of dehumanization."

Zakharova reminded that Israel announced that it would carry out strikes on the Gaza Strip, completing them with humiliating remarks about the region's population.

The states of the Middle East call Israel guilty of this crime, but the West reacted differently to what happened, she noted.

"I have read all the statements that were made by the foreign ministries of the region, they all unequivocally condemn not only the strike itself, but call Israel guilty.

At the same time, the Western statements were made only with an emphasis on condemning the strike on the hospital itself, "as if the strike was self-inflicted," she said.

According to her assessment, the tactics are being used to show pity to people who died without naming a guilty party and later "to appoint" a culprit that will be suitable for the West.