United Nations: Israeli occupation forces “deliberately” and “intestinally” bombed the healthcare facilities and medical staff in Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories, an independent enquiry by the United Nations said in its report.
“The Commission finds that Israel has implemented a concerted policy to destroy the health-care system of Gaza. Israeli security forces have deliberately killed, wounded, arrested, detained, mistreated and tortured medical personnel and targeted medical vehicles, constituting the war crimes of wilful killing and mistreatment and the crime against humanity of extermination.
“Israeli authorities carried out such act while tightening the siege of the Gaza Strip, resulting in fuel, food, water, medicines and medical supplies not reaching hospitals, while also drastically reducing permits for patients to leave the territory for medical treatment. The Commission finds that these actions were taken as collective punishment against the Palestinians in Gaza and are part of the ongoing Israeli attack against the Palestinian people that began on October 7, 2023”, the report said.
The report of the "Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel" submitted in the UN General Assembly by the UN Secretary General António Guterres on October 10, 2024, said the “deliberate bombing” of the healthcare systems in Gaza in the last one year is a “cleverly articulated design” by Israel to further its expansionist agenda in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“Attacks on health -care facilities are an intrinsic element of the Israeli security forces’ broader assault on Palestinians in Gaza and the physical and demographic infrastructure of Gaza, as well as of efforts to expand the occupation”, the Commission said.
“The actions of Israel violate international humanitarian law and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, and they are in stark contravention of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion of July 2024”, the Commission said in its report.
Calling the Israeli occupation of Palestine illegal, the ICJ had on July 19, 2024 said, Israel “systematically discriminates” against Palestinians, the Israeli occupation is de facto annexation, and that Israel has abused its status as the occupying power in the West Bank and east Jerusalem by annexing territory, imposing permanent control and building settlements.
'No military use of hospitals by Palestinians'
To justify its bombing of the medical facilities in Gaza, the Israeli occupation army claimed the hospitals and healthcare infrastructure were used by the Palestinian Resistance Fighters for military purposes. The UN Commission refuted all such claims.
“The Commission did not find evidence of military activity by Palestinian armed groups at either Awdah or the Turkish Hospital at the time that they were attacked.
“The Commission documented Israeli security forces statements that Shifa’ and Nasr hospitals were being used for military purposes, and the security forces’ claims of finding weapon caches. However, it was unable to independently verify those claims”, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry said in its report.
“The Commission confirmed the presence of a tunnel and shaft on the grounds of Shifa’ Hospital, but it could not verify that they were used for military purposes. The Commission verified information indicating that members of armed groups had entered Shifa’ hospital with Israeli security forces vehicles that were stolen on 7 October”, the report said.
“However, it did not find any evidence of a military presence in the specific hospital departments that Israeli security forces shelled in November, including the maternity ward and the intensive care unit. The Commission concludes that, at the time of Israeli security forces attacks, the hospitals and medical facilities enjoyed special protection under international humanitarian law and were immune from such attacks”, the report added.
WHO Data
Quoting the data from World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Commission said Israel carried out 498 attacks on health-care facilities in the Gaza Strip between 7 October 2023 and 30 July 2024.
A total of 747 persons were killed directly in those attacks and 969 others were injured, and 110 facilities were affected. 78% of the attacks between 7 October 2023 and 12 February 2024 were carried out through military force, while 35% involved obstruction of access and 9% involved militarized search and detention operations.
“Attacks were widespread and systematic, starting in the north of the Gaza Strip (October to December 2023) and then later occurring in the centre (December 2023 to January 2024), the south (January to March 2024) and other areas (April to June 2024)”, the report said.
The UN Commission in its recommendations asked the Zionist regime in Israel to immediately end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory, cease all new settlement plans and activities, including in relation to the Gaza Strip, and remove all settlements as rapidly as possible, in compliance with the International Court of Justice advisory opinion of July 2024.
The Commission also asked Israel to cease targeting of medical facilities, staff and vehicles and cease the military use of medical facilities, in compliance with international humanitarian law; and ensure rapid, safe and unhindered access for medical staff and ambulances to wounded persons, ensure reconstruction of the health care system of Gaza.
Read the full report HERE:
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