UN chief 'deeply alarmed' by Israeli strike on Gaza hospital

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply alarmed" by Sunday's strike by Israel on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in the Gaza Strip, his spokesman said Monday.

Guterres noted that under international humanitarian law, wounded and sick, medical personnel and medical facilities, including hospitals, "must be respected and protected," Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The statement came one day after a wave of Israeli strikes across Gaza hit the hospital and other sites, killing at least 21 victims, including children, according to media reports.

Medical supplies are running low and mass casualties continue to fill hospitals, Dujarric warned.

"Nearly 70% of Gaza is now under Israeli-issued displacement orders or within a 'no-go' zone, leaving Palestinians in Gaza with no safe place to go and little to survive on," he added.

Guterres expressed his "strong concern" as aid continues to be blocked, with Israel not having allowed humanitarian aid or other essential supplies in for more than seven weeks, said Dujarric.

Stressing the humanitarian consequences are "devastating," Guterres urged "occupying power" Israel for relief and facilitate Palestinians in the occupied Strip with "all the means at its disposal."

"Civilians must be respected and protected at all times and they must have the basic necessities to survive. All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.

"A ceasefire must be restored and renewed without delay," according to the statement.

Nearly 51,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.