Modi, EU Chairperson Condemn Attack on Gaza Hospital

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Oct 18: As an air strike on a hospital killing about 500 people in Gaza evoked world-wide condemnation, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was one of the first world leaders to call out the October 7 assault by Hamas on Israel as a terror attack, on Wednesday condemned the attack on the hospital.

In a social media post, the PM said he was “deeply shocked” by the deaths in the attack and extended his condolences to the families of those killed.

Even as Israel and Palestine remain locked in the blame game accusing each other for the horrific strike on the hospital, Mr Modi raised concern over civilian casualties in the war and called for those involved in the attack to be held responsible.

“Deeply shocked at the tragic loss of lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, and prayers for speedy recovery of those injured. Civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict are a matter of serious and continuing concern. Those involved should be held responsible,” the Prime Minister posted on X.

The post came at nearly the same time as the president of the United States Joe Biden landed in Israel on a visit which is meant to show solidarity with the country amidst cancelation of the summit meeting with some Arab leaders over the attack on the hospital.

In a post soon after Hamas launched 5,000 rockets at Israel in 20 minutes and began a multi-pronged attack by land, air and sea on October 7, PM Modi had said he was “deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel” and expressed India’s solidarity with the country in the difficult hour. The Israeli envoy to India Naor Gilon had referred to this statement and said India’s quick condemnation of the Hamas terror attacks has earned it a place on the table when it comes to resolving the current crisis.

Asserting that Israel trusts India, Mr Gilon had said, “We saw the incredible emotional support to Israel. I think that people, like Mr Modi and India, who were fast to condemn the terror attack as a terror attack, which not everyone did in the beginning, they bought themselves the right around the table. In the sense that they understood the situation,” Mr Gilon said.

Several other officials in Israel also welcomed India’s condemnation of Hamas’ attacks and said it had earned the country a lot of goodwill at a time when India and Israel have been getting closer. They also pointed to the good relationship between PM Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

PM Modi had reiterated his support for Israel on October 10, when he had posted that Mr Netanyahu had called him and given him an update on the deadly conflict. “I thank Prime Minister @netanyahu for his phone call and providing an update on the ongoing situation. People of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” Modi had posted on X.

The messages of support were seen as significant because India has, historically, backed the Palestinian cause. The war also broke out at a time when India has been positioning itself to play a bigger role in the Middle East and experts said the situation will require it to walk a diplomatic tightrope.

During a press conference two days later, the Ministry of External Affairs had said the Prime Minister had made some comments on the conflict and they stand on their own. Asked about India’s position on Palestine, spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said the country had always advocated negotiations for an independent state of Palestine living side by side with Israel.

“Our policy with regard to Palestine has been long-standing and consistent. India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders, side-by-side, at peace, with Israel. That position remains the same,” he added.

Speaking at the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in New Delhi the same week, Mr Modi had said terrorism anywhere in the world and in any form was against humanity and emphasised that it was time for peace and brotherhood. Calling for the world to move forward with a human-centric approach, he had also said conflicts and confrontations in any part of the world impact everyone and do not benefit anyone.

The European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen also said there was “no excuse for hitting a hospital full of civilians” in Gaza, but did not apportion blame for the blast. She told EU lawmakers the “facts need to be established” on the overnight strike on the Gaza hospital which has triggered street protests in the Middle East against Israel.

Von der Leyen, speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, said the overnight explosion turned the hospital into “a hell of fire.” “All those responsible must be held accountable,” she said.

Von der Leyen, who visited Israel last Friday in a show of solidarity with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, has been criticised by some European Union countries for perceived bias to the Israeli side at the expense of Palestinian civilians.

That prompted a summit of EU leaders by videoconference late Tuesday to emphasise the bloc’s twin message: that Israel has the right to defend itself following Hamas’s bloody October 7 assault — but only in line with its commitments under international humanitarian law.

Hamas on October 7 sent fighters through the Gaza Strip’s heavily militarised border, killing more than 1,400 people. They also took nearly 200 hostages. Israel has been relentlessly bombing Gaza in response, killing over 3,000 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.

In her parliamentary address, von der Leyen said “we must redouble our efforts to protect citizens from the fury of war.” But she said Hamas was the underlying reason for the ordeal Palestinians are now going through. “Hamas are terrorists. And the Palestinian people are also suffering from that terror,” she said.

She added that the EU needs to keep supporting the Palestinians, “and there is no contradiction in standing in solidarity with Israel.” “Europe stands with Israel in this dark moment,” von der Leyen said, adding that “Israel should act as a democracy, in line with international humanitarian law.”

The explosion, which came hours before Biden’s scheduled visit to Israel, has also caused an international furore and protests. US diplomatic efforts to drum up support for Israel have also been derailed, with Jordan announcing that Mr Biden’s meeting in Amman on Wednesday with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stands cancelled.

Soon after the explosion ripped through the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital Hamas blamed Israel and said the tragedy was the result of an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) then began posting a series of videos claiming that a rocket aimed at the country had misfired at exactly the same time – 18:59 – as the hospital was hit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that intelligence indicated that Islamic Jihad, a group allied with Hamas, was responsible for the “failed rocket launch which hit the hospital.”

“An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit. Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza,” Mr Netanyahu posted on X.

In another post, he said, “The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF. Those who brutally murdered our children also murdered their own children.”

This was countered strongly by Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, who called Mr Netanyahu a “liar” and said the Israeli military hit the hospital thinking that there was a Hamas base nearby. He also claimed that Mr Netanyahu’s spokesperson had tweeted as much, and then deleted the tweet, and that the Israelis were now changing their story. “He (Mr Netanyahu) is a liar. His digital spokesperson tweeted that Israel did the hit thinking that there was a base for Hamas around this hospital, and then he deleted that tweet. We have a copy of that tweet… Now they changed the story to try to blame the Palestinians,” Mr Mansour said.

He also pointed out that the Israeli Army had called for the evacuation of hospitals, where many civilians in Gaza had been sheltering after their houses had been reduced to rubble in Israeli airstrikes. “The Israeli spokesperson of the Army made a statement in which he said evacuate the hospitals…  Their intention is to evacuate or hospitals will be hit and they are responsible for that crime and they cannot fabricate stories to deal with it,” Mr Mansour said.

Mr Biden after arriving in Tel Aviv, backed Israeli account that hospital explosion was caused by militants. Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Biden said: “I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.”