Gaza image: AP Photo/AbedKhaled

Foreign Minister Ian Borg has condemned the attack on a hospital in Gaza where hundreds were killed, calling for international law to be respected.

“The destruction of a hospital in Gaza is appalling. We call for the respect of international law to protect civilian lives,” Borg wrote on social media.

Israel has denied any involvement in the hospital attack, blaming a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, a rival Islamist militant group in Gaza, while Gaza blames Israel for the attack.

“I am shocked to learn that hundreds have been killed, civilian lives must not be targeted nor used as a human shield,” the minister continued. 

This comes just days after Borg stated that no “story or circumstance” can justify a terror attack when speaking of the Hamas attack on Southern Israel.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Malta abstained from a UN Security Council vote on a Russian resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. Borg told Lovin Malta that this is because the document did not “strongly condemn” Hamas and it was not open to comments or amendments.

Since then, local activists have called for him to apply the same logic to the Israeli counter-attack into Gaza, as well as the border blockade that has cut the inflow of essential resources to the small area hosting around 2 million people.

This blockade, in tandem with the attack on the hospital, has devastated the already limited humanitarian aid within Gaza where doctors are tending to the wounded with limited water, electricity, and supplies.

Gaza has been under siege for a week in response to the deadly attack by Hamas – the Israeli government intends to “annihilate” the area. And since the hospital bombing, angry demonstrations have erupted all across the Middle East.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden is currently in Israel faced with a diplomatic mission complicated by a blame game.

Do you agree with Borg’s statement?