North Korea says Israel's airstrike on Gaza is a war crime, backed by the US

SHAH ALAM – North Korea’s Foreign Ministry claims that Israel's air strike on the Gaza Strip Oct 17 was a blatant war crime and was backed by the United States.

News agency KCNA has reported that a spokesperson from the North Korean Foreign Ministry also accused the United States of enabling Israel to act without restraint, allowing them to harm Palestinians with impunity.

This was allegedly achieved by providing weapons, providing military assistance, and even deploying aircraft carriers in the Middle East.

"This shows that the United States is an accomplice who connived at and fostered Israel's genocide," the spokesman said.

The ministry's statement, however, did not give any evidence to support its comments.

North Korean state media has frequently opposed Western perspectives, particularly those of the United States, on global matters, and it often criticises the United States.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported that 471 people lost their lives in an explosion at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital earlier this month.

Palestinians and Arabs have alleged that the hospital was struck by an Israeli airstrike.

Israel, on the other hand, attributed the explosion to a failed rocket launch by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, even though the Islamic Jihad denied involvement.

In contrast, a US official stated on Tuesday that US intelligence agencies have a "high confidence" assessment that the blast resulted from a malfunction in a Palestinian rocket during its mid-flight, not an Israeli action.

As for the exact death toll and the number of injuries from the hospital explosion, there remains uncertainty, according to US officials.