UN says Israeli attacks are pushing Gaza health care system towards complete collapse
The UN human rights office says Israeli attacks in and around hospitals have brought Gaza’s healthcare system “to the brink of complete collapse” and raise serious concerns about war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A new report describes a pattern in which Israeli forces attacked hospitals, surrounded them and forced evacuations, leaving patients dead or maimed.
It accepts Israel’s allegations that the hospitals have been used by Palestinian armed groups, but says the evidence is “equivocal”.
The Israeli army has not commented. But it has previously said its forces comply with international law and take measures to minimize harm to civilians and disruption to medical services.
It comes days after the last functioning hospital in besieged northern Gaza was raided by Israeli forces, which said it was being used as a Hamas command center.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 and took 251 others hostage.
More than 45,500 people have been killed and 108,300 injured in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
“As if the sustained bombardment and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, a sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe has actually become a death trap,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Tuesday.
“The security of hospitals during war is paramount and must be respected at all times by all parties.”
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said it documented at least 136 attacks on 27 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities during the period covered by the report, which was between October 2023 and June 2024.
It said those attacks claimed “significant casualties among doctors, nurses, therapists and other civilians” and caused “significant damage if not complete destruction of civilian infrastructure”.
Medical personnel and hospitals are particularly protected under international humanitarian law, provided that they do not commit or are habitually committing acts harmful to the enemy outside their humanitarian function. Nevertheless, any attack must adhere to the basic principles of discrimination, proportionality and precautions in attack.
The OHCHR stated that deliberately directing attacks at hospitals and places where the sick and wounded were treated, deliberately directing attacks against the civilian population and deliberately indiscriminate attacks were war crimes.
And in some circumstances, the deliberate destruction of health care facilities could even constitute a form of collective punishment, which would also be a war crime.
According to the report, in most cases where Israel has attacked hospitals, Israel has alleged that the hospitals are being used inappropriately by Palestinian armed groups.
“However, insufficient information has so far been provided to substantiate these allegations, which remain vague and broad, and in some cases appear to contradict publicly available information,” the UN report said. ”
“If these allegations were verified, it would raise serious concerns that Palestinian armed groups were deliberately using the presence of civilians to protect themselves from attack, which would amount to a war crime.”
Hamas and medical staff have denied that the hospitals have been used by armed groups.
The report also notes that the impact of Israeli military operations in and around hospitals extended far beyond the physical structures.
“Many women are giving birth without or with minimal prenatal or postnatal care, increasing the risk of preventable maternal and infant mortality,” it said.
“OHCHR has received reports that many newborns died because their mothers were unable to attend postnatal checks or access medical facilities to give birth.”
The report also said that people injured by trauma were being prevented from receiving timely and possibly life-saving treatment, noting that the Gaza Health Ministry had reduced the number of hospital beds by 80% and more than 500 Medical professionals were reported killed. End of June.
“Many of the injured reportedly died while hospitalized or while waiting for treatment. Even those who managed to receive critical treatment, including surgery, received treatment without proper beds and facilities and often He was discharged prematurely due to lack of space.”
In response to the report, OHCHR quoted the Israeli government as saying that the Israeli military had taken “comprehensive measures” to “minimize civilian damage and minimize disruption to medical services.”
This includes enabling evacuation routes from hospitals, providing medical equipment, fuel and other support to keep hospitals running, and setting up field hospitals, it said.
The Israeli government also claimed that Hamas has chosen to “systematically abuse the security of medical facilities,” embedding its tunnel systems and infrastructure within the premises of medical facilities as part of the strategy, and converting them into weapons stores. and uses as an accessible headquarters its operators”.
Turki called for an independent investigation into the incidents documented in the report, and said that “ensuring and facilitating access to adequate health care for the Palestinian population must also be a priority for Israel, as the occupying power”.
