Israel says Hamas foes in Gaza war use hospitals for military purposes
11/10/2024 6:19
A United Nations inquiry said
on Thursday it found that Israel carried out a concerted policy
of destroying Gaza's healthcare system in the Gaza war, actions
amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of
extermination.
A statement by former U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights Navi Pillay that accompanied the report accused Israel of
"relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and
facilities" in the war, triggered by Hamas militants' deadly
cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
"Children in particular have borne the brunt of these
attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the
collapse of the health system," said Pillay, whose 24-page
report covering the first 10 months of the war will be presented
to the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 30.
Israel's prime minister's office and its foreign ministry
did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Israel says that Gaza's militants operate from the cover of
built-up populated areas including private homes, schools and
hospitals and that it will strike them wherever they emerge,
while also trying to avoid harming civilians. Hamas denies
hiding militants, weapons and command posts among civilians.
The U.N. inquiry's statement also accused Israeli forces of
deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting
medical vehicles and restricting permits for patients to leave
the besieged Gaza Strip.
As an example, it cited the death of a Palestinian girl,
Hind Rajab, in February along with family members and two medics
who came to rescue her from under Israeli fire as they
evacuated. The report said the ambulance was hit by a tank shell
while within 50 meters (55 yards) of the family despite its
route having been coordinated in advance with Israeli security
forces.
The World Health Organization says over 10,000 patients
requiring urgent medical evacuation have been prevented from
leaving Gaza since the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was shut
in May. The Palestinian health ministry says nearly 1,000 medics
have been killed in Gaza in the past year in what the WHO called
"an irreplaceable loss and a massive blow to the health system".
In cases where four hospitals were asked to evacuate by
Israeli forces, the inquiry found that the orders were "not
feasible" since they did not give medics the time to evacuate
hundreds of patients and Israeli forces did not assist them.
It also said the treatment of both Palestinian detainees in
Israel and hostages seized by Hamas fighters in the Oct. 7
attack had been investigated and it accused both sides of
involvement in torture and sexual violence.
The Commission of Inquiry has a broad mandate to collect
evidence and identify suspected perpetrators of international
crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian
territories. It bases its findings on a range of sources
including interviews with victims and witnesses, submissions and
satellite imagery.
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 also constituted crimes against
humanity because of the immense civilian losses. The term is
reserved for the most serious international crimes knowingly
committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against
civilians.
Israel has not cooperated with the inquiry, which it says
has an anti-Israel bias. The commission has accused Israel of
obstructing its work and preventing investigators from accessing
both Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Sometimes, the evidence gathered by such U.N.-mandated
bodies has formed the basis for war crimes prosecutions and
could be drawn on by the International Criminal Court.
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