UN to do its own investigation into deadly Gaza hospital blast

A senior United Nations official has called for a UN investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deadly blast at a Gaza hospital, reported from CNN.

"The UN will certainly want to do its own investigation … And it should be done very soon and very quickly," UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

Hundreds of people were killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the center of Gaza City, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Authorities in Gaza blamed Israel, while the country said its intelligence indicated the cause was a failed rocket launch by Islamic Jihad. The group has denied this.

The US currently believes Israel is "not responsible" for the blast, according to the National Security Council. CNN cannot independently confirm what caused the blast nor the extent of casualties.

Asked whether Israel’s evidence so far to support its denial of responsibility meant the matter was done, Griffiths said, "It’s not done for me, because I’m not in the business of judging human rights abuses and atrocities of that kind.”

A UN investigation might allow important lessons to be learned, he added, "to stop it happening to the next hospital, to the next school, to the next institution where people are fleeing.”

Griffiths also said the UN stands ready to provide humanitarian aid and called for airstrikes to cease in areas where access was needed.

"International humanitarian law forbids airstrikes on places of civilian objects, civilian infrastructure. … It’s the safety of aid, which is as important as its dependability. We can do it, because we have the aid, we have the people, we have the trucks, and we certainly have the will,” he said.





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