Middle East & North Africa
Eighteen Arab and Muslim countries condemn the Israeli strike on Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis
Foreign ministers of 18 Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan, said continuing Israeli attacks undermine the ceasefire and urged Israel to meet its first-phase commitments immediately.
The foreign ministers of 18 Arab and Muslim countries, among them Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan, condemned “in the strongest terms” the Israeli airstrike on the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. In a joint statement of Saturday, November 14, published by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, they warn that continuing Israeli attacks undermine the ceasefire and call on Israel to immediately honour all commitments of the first phase of the agreement.
The statement is signed by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. According to the ministers, the strike caused casualties among patients and medical staff and violates international humanitarian law, which gives special protection to health facilities and the people working in them. They also condemn attacks on civilians, including strikes on tents and other places where displaced people live. Such attacks, they write, “are inconsistent with President Trump’s Comprehensive Plan”.
The strike took place just after midnight on Thursday, November 12, and killed six people at Nasser hospital, among them the surgeon Rizq Abu Sa’ira, while at least 20 were wounded, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry and the Civil Defence. Hospital director Raed al-Dahshan said the missile went through several floors and caused heavy damage to the surgical department and the intensive care unit. The Israeli army and the Shin Bet security service said the target was Mohammed Abu Ismail, commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, and two other members of the organisation. They claim the strike precisely targeted the room from which the commander was operating and that Hamas “cynically exploits” civilian infrastructure. Abu Ismail’s fate remained unclear and the results were being examined, while Hamas called the strike a “war crime”.
A large part of the statement concerns humanitarian aid. The ministers express “grave concern” that Israeli restrictions on aid, on shelter materials such as tents, caravans and prefabricated units, and on medical supplies are deepening the humanitarian catastrophe as winter approaches. They warn that children and infants again risk dying from the cold. The warnings follow heavy rain that flooded about 70,000 tents, according to the Gaza government media office, while UNICEF counts at least 106,000 people affected. The same week Britain announced £5 million for Gaza’s winter.
The 18 countries call on Israel to fully implement the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement, the Trump plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803 (2025), to protect civilians and hospitals, and to allow the safe and unhindered entry of aid. They stress that the first-phase commitments should have applied upon signature and cannot be made conditional on additional political or security requirements, nor on progress in later phases. They call on the United States and the Board of Peace to step up efforts so that all restrictions on aid are lifted, “safeguarding the credibility of the agreements and consolidating the ceasefire”.
