The United Nations exposes Israel’s systematic attack on medical care in the Gaza Strip

A United Nations investigation concluded that Israel implemented a deliberate strategy to dismantle Gaza’s health system during the ongoing conflict, actions the report describes as war crimes and crimes of extermination.

In a statement accompanying the report, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay accused Israel of “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical staff and facilities.”

These attacks followed Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Pillay highlighted the devastating impact on children, who have suffered both directly from the violence and indirectly from the collapse of health services.

Their 24-page report on the first ten months of the conflict will be presented to the UN General Assembly on October 30.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva dismissed the report as “outrageous” and dismissed its conclusions.

“(The report) is another blatant attempt by the Commission of Inquiry to delegitimize the very existence of the State of Israel and obstruct its right to protect its people,” it said.

Israel claims Hamas operates under the cover of populated areas, including schools and hospitals, and will attack them wherever they appear, trying not to harm civilians.

Hamas denies hiding weapons and command posts among civilians.

The UN investigation’s statement also accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing and torturing medical staff, targeting medical vehicles and restricting permission for patients to leave the besieged Gaza Strip.

It cited the death of a Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, in February, as well as family members and two medics who came to rescue her as she was evacuated from Israeli fire.

According to the report, the ambulance was hit by a tank shell within 50 meters (55 yards) of the family, although the route had been previously coordinated with Israeli security forces.

Irreparable loss

The World Health Organization says more than 10,000 patients in need of urgent medical evacuation have been prevented from leaving Gaza since the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was closed in May.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said nearly 1,000 medics were killed in Gaza last year, in what the WHO called an “irreparable loss and a massive blow to the health system.”

In cases where the Israeli Defense Forces ordered four hospitals to evacuate, the investigation found that the orders were “unworkable” because they did not give doctors time to evacuate hundreds of patients and the Israeli Defense Forces did not help them.

The investigation also found that Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees was being investigated and serious allegations of torture and sexual violence emerged.

Its broad mandate is to collect evidence and identify suspected perpetrators of international crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The findings are based on a range of sources, including interviews with victims and witnesses, statements and satellite images.

The commission has previously alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war and that Israel’s actions constituted crimes against humanity due to the immense civilian casualties.

The term is reserved for the most serious international crimes that are knowingly committed as part of a large-scale or systematic attack on civilians.

Israel did not cooperate with the investigation, alleging that the investigation was anti-Israel.

The commission accused Israel of obstructing its work and preventing investigators from entering both Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Evidence collected by such UN mandates sometimes formed the basis for war crimes prosecutions and could be used by the International Criminal Court.

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