DOHA/PARIS –  At least 500 people have been killed in an Israeli air raid on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday (17) according to Palestinian authorities in the besieged territory. The air raid has provoked outrage and condemnation from around the world, with protests on the streets of Amman, Tunis, Beirut and Tehran.

Several world leaders have condemned the attack.

Here are some of the major reactions:

Palestine

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the air raid as an act of “genocide” and a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

Abbas has also withdrawn from a previously scheduled meeting with US President Joe Biden, who is set to arrive in the region on Wednesday (18)

Jordan

In a statement on Tuesday, the Jordanian foreign ministry strongly condemned Israel’s attack and emphasized the need for international protection for Palestinian civilians and an end to the fighting.

King Abdullah II said Israel’s bombing of Gaza hospital was a “massacre” and a “war crime” that one cannot be silent about.

Egypt

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned in the strongest terms “the Israeli bombing” of the Ahli hospital, which led to “the deaths of hundreds of innocent victims” among the Palestinian citizens in Gaza.

He called the “deliberate bombing” a “clear violation of international law” and called on the international community to step in and prevent further violations.

Qatar

Qatar’s foreign ministry called the strike “a brutal massacre” and “a heinous crime against defenceless civilians”.

In a statement, the Gulf state called the attack on Ahli Arab Hospital a “blatant violation of the provisions of international law” and the expansion of Israeli attacks over the Gaza Strip to include hospitals, schools, and other population centres a  “dangerous escalation in the course of the confrontations”.

Saudi Arabia

Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia condemned the hospital strike as “a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms”, denouncing Israel’s “continuous attacks against civilians”.

World Health Organization (WHO)

The World Health Organization condemned the deadly strike and demanded the immediate protection of civilians and health care in the strip.

“WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital,” the UN health agency said in a statement, nothing, “The hospital was operational, with patients, health- and care-givers, and internally-displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in message on the social media platform X, called for the immediate protection of civilians and health care, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed.

 The Arab League

Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said “the West must stop this tragedy immediately”.

“What diabolical mind intentionally bombards a hospital and its defenceless inhabitants?” he wrote in a social media post, warning that “Arab mechanisms will document these war crimes and the criminals will not get away with their actions.”

Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a message on social media platform X, condemned the incident as “the latest example of Israeli attacks devoid of the most basic human values”.

“Hitting a hospital containing women, children and innocent civilians is the latest example of Israel’s attacks devoid of the most basic human values,” he said, adding “I invite all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza.”

Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attack and stressed the importance of adhering to the laws of war.

“The news coming out of Gaza is horrific and absolutely unacceptable … international law needs to be respected in this and in all cases. There are rules around wars and it’s not acceptable to hit a hospital,” Trudeau told reporters.

Iran

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi declared a day of “public mourning” on Wednesday and said the strike on the hospital would turn against Israel and its US ally.

“The flames of the US-Israeli bombs, dropped this evening on the Palestinian victims injured at the… hospital in Gaza, will soon consume the Zionists,” Raisi said, according to the IRNA agency.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the British and French embassies in Tehran overnight. Several thousand gathered earlier in Palestine Square in central Tehran to voice their anger.

Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani called in a statement for an “immediate and urgent resolution” from the UN Security Council to put an end to the “aggression”.

The government has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the strike.

France

French President Emmanuel Macron said “nothing can justify targeting civilians” adding, “Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip must be opened without delay.”

Hezbollah

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement on Tuesday called for a “day of rage” to condemn a strike on a Gaza Strip hospital, blaming Israel for what it called a “massacre”.

“Let tomorrow, Wednesday, be a day of rage against the enemy,” Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, said in a statement, calling the strike a “massacre” and “brutal crime”.

Hezbollah’s call came as hundreds of demonstrators scuffled with Lebanese security forces outside the US embassy in the Beirut suburb of Awkar, where protesters chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

African Union

The African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat accused Israel of a “war crime” and said on X, “There are no words to fully express our condemnation of Israel’s bombing of a #Gaza hospital today, killing hundreds of people.” Faki called for the international community to act.

Tunisia

Hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside the French embassy in Tunisia on Tuesday, also denouncing the US, after the hospital strike.

“The French and Americans are allies of Zionists,” demonstrators shouted, according to an AFP journalist.

Protesters demanded the recall of both countries’ ambassadors and shouted: “No American embassy on Tunisian territory.”

ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also condemned the strike, saying “hospitals should be sanctuaries to preserve human life, not scenes of death and destruction”.

MSF

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) condemned the strike on the hospital saying “We are horrified by the recent bombing of the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City, which was treating patients and hosting displaced Gazans.”

 UN

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital in Gaza”.

Guterres “strongly condemned” the strike but without attributing responsibility.

United States 

President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion” and “the terrible loss of life that resulted”.

Biden said he had spoken to Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “immediately upon hearing this news.”

-aljazeera.com/news agencies