International Outcry After Israeli Attack Kills 274 Palestinians in Gaza

Authorities in the Gaza Strip on Sunday reported that at least 698 others were injured in what they described as "an unprecedented brutal attack," with many in critical condition, as hospitals struggle to manage the influx of casualties.

Reporting from inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza's Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary stated that civil defense crews are still uncovering dead or wounded Palestinians from under the rubble in the aftermath of the Nuseirat attack, amid ongoing air strikes across the enclave.

"The bombardment continues intensely and it is very hard for the emergency responders to reach the killed and injured Palestinians. They are telling us that there are still people on the roads and under the rubble that they could not reach," she said.

Since October 7, Israel's military offensive has killed at least 37,084 Palestinians and wounded 84,494 others, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health.

Reports that the United States facilitated the Israeli operation have fueled accusations that Washington is "complicit and completely involved in the war crimes being perpetrated" in the besieged coastal enclave.

Josep Borrell, the foreign policy chief of the European Union, had a strong reaction, stating in a post on X, "The bloodbath must end immediately. Reports from Gaza of another massacre of civilians are appalling. We condemn this in the strongest terms."

Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, deputy foreign minister of Norway, also expressed his dismay on X, saying he was "appalled by reports of another massacre of civilians in Gaza" and called for the release of captives and an immediate ceasefire.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), representing 57 member states, most of them Muslim-majority, condemned what it described as "the horrific massacre carried out by the Israeli occupation army, which resulted in the murder and injury of hundreds of Palestinians, most of them women and children."

It called for an investigation, accountability, and punishment in accordance with international law, emphasizing the importance of the International Criminal Court's role in this regard.

The Cairo-based Arab Parliament denounced the "massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupation" and held Israel and the US responsible.

In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs deplored the Israeli attack, describing it as "barbaric" and part of a long list of "crimes" committed by Israel in Gaza.

"We call on the institutions responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, the United Nations Security Council in particular, to exercise their responsibility to put an end to the commission of these crimes by Israel," the statement added.

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the latest killings 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," spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

"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."

The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates stated that the Israeli attack reflects "the systematic targeting of Palestinian civilians, the Israeli persistence in violating international law and international humanitarian law, and continuing to commit war crimes."

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the Nuseirat attack "a blatant violation of all provisions of international law and international humanitarian law, as well as all values of humanity and human rights."

"Egypt holds Israel legally and morally responsible for this flagrant assault, demanding that Israel comply with its obligations as an occupying power and cease the indiscriminate targeting of Palestinian civilians, including those in areas where they have been displaced."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated 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 urged for the release of all captives and an end to the war.

Saul Takahashi, former deputy head of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Occupied Palestine, highlighted a "double standard" in the Western response to Palestinian casualties.

"There is a huge, huge double standard when it comes to human lives: that Israeli lives, Ukrainian lives, white skin lives are important, but when it comes to Palestinians, people with brown skins, Arabs in general, they are not just as important, we do not really care," Takahashi said from Toyohashi, Japan.

"As your correspondent mentioned, this is hardly reported at all … the loss of Palestinians’ lives in the Israeli media. It’s pretty much the same in the US media and many other international media outlets."

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, said the release of the captives should not have come at the cost of more than 200 Palestinian lives, with foreign soldiers "perfidiously hiding in an aid truck."

"Israel could have freed all hostages, alive and intact, eight months ago when the first ceasefire and hostage exchange was put on the table," she wrote on X, adding that Israel's continued killing of Palestinians while refusing a deal lays bare Israel's "genocidal intent turned into action."

"Countries that celebrate the release of four Israeli hostages without saying a word about the hundreds of Palestinians killed and thousands held in arbitrary detention by Israel, have lost moral credibility for generations and don't deserve to be on any UN human rights body," wrote Balakrishnan Rajagopal, another UN special rapporteur.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, described a "nightmare" at Al-Aqsa Hospital, where most of the casualties were taken on Saturday, as the facility runs out of medicine, fuel, and food.

"How many more men, women and children have to be killed before world leaders decide to put an end to this massacre?" said Samuel Johann, MSF coordinator in Gaza.

Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and visiting professor at Princeton University, told Al Jazeera that a daytime operation meant "some of the bombs clearly fell either on or right adjacent to a market in Nuseirat which was filled with people."

"And in those circumstances, you predictably will get larger numbers of civilian casualties than if it had been a nighttime operation. That is inconsistent with the duty to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians harm."