Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, has termed the deadly attack on a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday a "war crime."
An Israeli airstrike hit Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in the northern part of the enclave, killing many people.
"There are no words to fully express our condemnation of Israel's bombing of a Gaza hospital today, killing hundreds of people. Targeting a hospital, considered a safe haven under International Humanitarian Law, is a war crime. The international community must act now," Faki said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
The attack has drawn widespread condemnation from global agencies and world leaders, including Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"To strike a hospital where women, children, and innocent civilians are present is the latest example of Israel's attacks devoid of basic human values," Erdogan said on X following the Israeli airstrike on Al Ahli hospital.
'Deep sorrow'
There were at least 500 victims, with most of them dead and trapped under the rubble.
The media office of Gaza's Hamas government described the attack as a "war crime."
"The hospital was housing hundreds of sick and wounded, and people forcibly displaced from their homes" because of other Israeli strikes, a statement said.
A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas termed the Tuesday attack an act of "genocide" and a "humanitarian catastrophe."
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said he "followed with deep sorrow the Israeli bombing of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on the evening of Tuesday."
"I condemn in the strongest terms this deliberate bombing, which is considered a clear violation of international law and the provisions of international legitimacy and humanity."
He added that Egypt was in "rejection of the continuation of these practices against civilians, demanding their immediate cessation."
'Massacre'
King Abdullah II of Jordan said Israel's bombing of Gaza hospital was a "massacre" and a "war crime."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau termed the attack "horrific and absolutely unacceptable."
"International law needs to be respected in this and in all cases. There are rules around wars and it's not acceptable to hit a hospital," he said.
The League of Arab States Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on X: "Arab mechanisms will document these war crimes and the criminals will not get away with their actions."
The World Health Organization, through its Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the world body "strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in north Gaza."
"We call for the immediate protection of civilians and healthcare, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed," he said.
Iran's foreign ministry described the strike on Al Ahli Baptist Hospital as an attack on "unarmed and defenceless people", Iranian state media reported.
