UAE, Russia request emergency UN Security Council meeting after Israel strikes Gaza hospital

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Russia requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting Tuesday after an Israeli airstrike in the besieged Gaza Strip struck a hospital, killing hundreds of victims.

"The UAE and Russia have called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, following the strike on a hospital in Gaza," the UAE UN mission spokesperson Sgagad Matar wrote on X.

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

Footage showed bodies scattered across the hospital grounds.

The airstrike came on the eleventh day in the conflict, with a growing international chorus of non-governmental groups and world leaders saying the Israeli bombing campaign on the besieged enclave -- including health care facilities, homes and houses of worship -- violates international law, and may constitute war crimes.