Cabinet: Gaza hospital strike constitutes war crime

She said hospitals are considered a safe haven under international humanitarian law.

Anger spiked on Wednesday, with protesters pouring onto the streets in cities from Tripoli to Tehran after a strike on the hospital in the besieged enclave.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claimed 471 people had died as a result while blaming an Israeli air strike.

Israel denied responsibility, saying an initial investigation showed the strike was caused by a malfunctioning rocket fired by Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.

"Thousands of Israelis have been killed and far more injured,” Ntshaveni told a briefing on this week’s cabinet meeting.

“Many violations of international law have been committed by all sides, and cabinet calls for accountability and justice in response to all those crimes.

"Cabinet condemns the cowardly attack by Hamas that killed and injured innocent people. Similarly, cabinet condemns the heinous opportunism of the Israeli government to use Hamas cowardice to continue its genocide against the people of Palestine.

“Cabinet calls on the International Criminal Court to investigate the crime of bombing and genocide in this conflict and not to allow the perpetration of another holocaust under its watch," added Ntshaveni.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled a deal to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter war-torn Gaza, where one million people have fled their homes amid withering Israeli air strikes.

After face-to-face talks in Israel and intense telephone diplomacy with Egypt, Biden said a limited number of trucks would be allowed to cross the shuttered Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza from Friday.

It would be the first international relief to enter Gaza since October 7, when Palestinian militant group Hamas launched shock raids into Israel, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seizing about 200 hostages.

*Additional reporting by AFP