Global outrage after Israel’s ‘massacre’ in Nuseirat camp
Several countries and international organizations condemned the Israeli killing of at least 274 Palestinians, many of them civilians, during an operation to free four Israeli captives in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp.
Authorities in the Gaza Strip on Sunday said at least 698 others were injured in “an unprecedented brutal attack”, some in critical condition, as hospitals struggle to cope with the flow of wounded or dead bodies.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said the Palestinian Authority is seeking an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council over the Nuseirat attack.
Hamas resistance group said Israel’s release of four captives “will not change the Israeli army’s strategic failure in the Gaza Strip”, especially after taking eight months to enact the operation.
It also said reports that the United States facilitated the Israeli operation prove again that Washington is “complicit and completely involved in the war crimes being perpetrated” in the besieged territory.
‘Bloodbath must end’
Josep Borrell, the foreign policy chief of the European Union, had a stronger reaction, writing in a post on X that “the bloodbath must end immediately”.
“Reports from Gaza of another massacre of civilians are appalling. We condemn this in the strongest terms,” he said.
Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, deputy foreign minister of Norway, wrote on X that he was “appalled by reports of another massacre of civilians in Gaza” and said the country condemns attacks on civilians while calling for the release of captives and an immediate cease-fire.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), representing 57 member states, most of whom are Muslim-majority, condemned “the horrific massacre” and called for an investigation.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the country “deplores” the Israeli attack, which it called “barbaric” and another in a long list of “crimes” committed by Israel which has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians since October 7.
World’s inaction
Iran’s Foreign Ministry blamed the latest killing of hundreds of Palestinians on “inaction” by world governments and the UN Security Council.
“These horrific and shocking crimes… are the result of the inaction of governments and responsible international bodies, including the United Nations Security Council, in the face of eight months of war crimes and violations by the Zionist regime [Israel],” spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a statement.
“The butchered and bloodied bodies of Palestinian civilians and children are the result of the continued injection of American and European arms to the arsenals of the Zionist regime, and the continued support of the US and a number of European countries for the regime.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a post on X that “scores of Palestinian civilians” continued to be killed in Israeli attacks after the organization this week paid tribute to a record 188 UN staff killed in Gaza.
Martin Griffiths, the UN relief chief, called the Nuseirat refugee camp “the epicenter of the seismic trauma that civilians in Gaza continue to suffer” and said all remaining captives must be released and the war ended.