By Servet Gunerigok
WASHINGTON (AA) - Tor Wennesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, issued a stark warning Wednesday about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I fear that we are at the brink of a deep and dangerous abyss that could change the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if not of the Middle East as a whole," Wennesland said at a UN Security Council meeting on the conflict.
Wennesland called the conflict "one of the most difficult moments facing the Israeli and Palestinian people in the past 75 years."
"We are facing a devastating and clearly difficult challenge for the region and for the international community. It comes at a moment when the global institutions we need to respond to such a crisis are already stretched," he added.
Turning to the Tuesday strike on the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Wennesland said: "The circumstances and responsibility remain obscure and will need to be fully investigated, but the result speaks for itself."
Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, sent condolences to grieving families affected by the bombing.
He said, according to the World Health Organization, the hospital was one of 20 in northern Gaza subject to an order by Israeli authorities that civilians should leave for their safety.
"However, evacuation for many had simply not been possible due to insecurity," said the UN aid chief, adding that the hospital was fully operational, and indeed had breached maximum capacity, when it was hit.
Since Oct. 7, the number of health workers in Gaza that have reportedly been killed is 28 with 23 injured.
"Under international humanitarian law, parties to armed conflict must protect civilians and civilian objects and take constant care to spare them," said Griffiths.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that hundreds of victims have been killed in the explosion at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the heart of Gaza City. It was serving as a refuge for thousands seeking shelter from Israeli airstrikes.