Allies, NGOs Condemn Israel Strike on Gaza Hospital

People pray in front of the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 25 August 2025.
People pray in front of the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 25 August 2025.
TT

Allies, NGOs Condemn Israel Strike on Gaza Hospital

People pray in front of the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 25 August 2025.
People pray in front of the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 25 August 2025.

World powers voiced shock at the killing of five journalists among 20 victims reported by Gaza's civil defense agency in an Israeli strike on a hospital on Monday.  

The Israeli military said it would investigate the strike in the area of Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, adding that it "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such".  

Here is a roundup of world reactions so far.  

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemns the killing of Palestinians in Israeli strikes that hit Nasser hospital in Gaza and calls for a prompt, impartial investigation, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday. 

"The Secretary-General recalls that civilians, including medical personnel and journalists, must be respected and protected at all times. He calls for a prompt, impartial investigation into these killings," Dujarric told reporters. 

UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement that journalists and hospitals should never be targeted. 

"The killing of journalists in Gaza should shock the world -- not into stunned silence but into action, demanding accountability and justice."  

The head of the UN's agency for Palestinian affairs UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, described the strike as "silencing the last remaining voices reporting about children dying silently amid famine", in a post on X.  

Questioned by reporters at the White House, US President Donald Trump said he had not yet received news of the strike but added: "I'm not happy about it. I don't want to see it." 

He said, "at the same time, we have to end that whole nightmare" in Gaza, where the Hamas group is holding hostages seized in Israel.  

In Israel's staunch European ally Germany, the foreign ministry said it was "shocked by the killing of several journalists, rescue workers, and other civilians" in the Nasser Hospital strike.  

"This attack must be investigated," the ministry said on X, also calling on Israel to "allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza".  

UK foreign minister David Lammy said he was "horrified" by the hospital strike.  

"Civilians, healthcare workers and journalists must be protected. We need an immediate ceasefire," Lammy wrote on X.  

In Qatar, which has been trying to mediate a halt to the fighting in Gaza, the foreign ministry condemned the strike as "a new episode in the ongoing series of heinous crimes" by Israel. 

"The occupation's approach of targeting journalists and relief and medical workers requires urgent and decisive international action to provide the necessary protection for civilians and ensure that the perpetrators of these atrocities do not escape punishment," it said in a statement.  

Medical aid charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was "heartbroken" by the death in the strike of a freelance photographer who had previously worked for it, Mariam Abu Dagga.  

"As Israel continues to shun international law, the only witnesses of their genocidal campaign are deliberately being targeted. It must stop now," it said. 

The Foreign Press Association called for an "immediate explanation" from the Israeli military and prime minister's office.  

"We call on Israel once and for all to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists," the group said in a statement. 



Germany Moves Troops Out of Iraq, Citing Mideast 'Tensions'

FILE PHOTO: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visits the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 (Transporthubschrauberregiment 30) at the Hermann-Koehl-Kaserne in Niederstetten, Germany, August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
FILE PHOTO: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visits the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 (Transporthubschrauberregiment 30) at the Hermann-Koehl-Kaserne in Niederstetten, Germany, August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
TT

Germany Moves Troops Out of Iraq, Citing Mideast 'Tensions'

FILE PHOTO: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visits the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 (Transporthubschrauberregiment 30) at the Hermann-Koehl-Kaserne in Niederstetten, Germany, August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
FILE PHOTO: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visits the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 (Transporthubschrauberregiment 30) at the Hermann-Koehl-Kaserne in Niederstetten, Germany, August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Germany's military has "temporarily" moved some troops out of Erbil in northern Iraq because of "escalating tensions in the Middle East," a German defense ministry spokesman told AFP on Thursday.

Dozens of German soldiers had been relocated away from the base in Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.

"Only the personnel necessary to maintain the operational capability of the camp in Erbil remain on site," the spokesman said.

The spokesman did not specify the source of the tensions, but US President Donald Trump has ordered a major build-up of US warships, aircraft and other weaponry in the region and threatened action against Iran.

German troops are deployed to Erbil as part of an international mission to train local Iraqi forces.

The spokesman said the German redeployment away from Erbil was "closely coordinated with our multinational partners".


UN: At Least 15 Children Killed in Sudan Drone Strike

The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
TT

UN: At Least 15 Children Killed in Sudan Drone Strike

The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)

A drone strike on a displacement camp in Sudan killed at least 15 children earlier this week, the United Nations reported late on Wednesday.

"On Monday 16 February, at least 15 children were reportedly killed and 10 wounded after a drone strike on a displacement camp in Al Sunut, West Kordofan," the UN children's agency said in a statement.

Across the Kordofan region, currently the Sudan war's fiercest battlefield, "we are seeing the same disturbing patterns from Darfur -- children killed, injured, displaced and cut off from the services they need to survive," UNICEF's Executive Director Catherine Russell said.


MSF Will Keep Operating in Gaza 'as Long as We Can'

(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
TT

MSF Will Keep Operating in Gaza 'as Long as We Can'

(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The head of Doctors Without Borders in the Palestinian territories told AFP the charity would continue working in Gaza for as long as possible, following an Israeli decision to end its activities there.

In early February, Israel announced it was terminating all the activities in Gaza by the medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff.

MSF has slammed the move, which takes effect on March 1, as a "pretext" to obstruct aid.

"For the time being, we are still working in Gaza, and we plan to keep running our operations as long as we can," Filipe Ribeiro told AFP in Amman, but said operations were already facing challenges.

"Since the beginning of January, we are not anymore in the capacity to get international staff inside Gaza. The Israeli authorities actually denied any entry to Gaza, but also to the West Bank," he said.

Ribeiro added that MSF's ability to bring medical supplies into Gaza had also been impacted.

"They're not allowed for now, but we have some stocks in our pharmacies that will allow us to keep running operations for the time being," he said.

"We do have teams in Gaza that are still working, both national and international, and we have stocks."

In December, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organizations, including MSF, from working in Gaza from March 1 for failing to submit detailed information about their Palestinian employees, drawing widespread condemnation from NGOs and the United Nations.

It had alleged that two MSF employees had links with Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which the medical charity has repeatedly and vehemently denied.

MSF says it did not provide the names of its Palestinian staff because Israeli authorities offered no assurances regarding their safety.

Ribeiro warned of the massive impact the termination of MSF's operations would have for healthcare in war-shattered Gaza.

"MSF is one of the biggest actors when it comes to the health provision in Gaza and the West Bank, and if we are obliged to leave, then we will create a huge void in Gaza," he said.

The charity says it currently provides at least 20 percent of hospital beds in the territory and operates around 20 health centers.

In 2025 alone, it carried out more than 800,000 medical consultations, treated more than 100,000 trauma cases and assisted more than 10,000 infant deliveries.