Gaza hospitals on ‘brink of total collapse’ from Israel attacks: UN

UN study says 136 strikes connected Gaza hospitals person caused captious harm and casualties among aesculapian personnel.

A UN study says Israel’s claims that Gaza hospitals are being utilized for subject purposes by Palestinian equipped groups are “vague” amid continuing Israeli attacks connected wellness facilities protected nether planetary law.

The study – released connected Tuesday by the UN quality rights bureau – said Israeli strikes targeting hospitals and their surroundings successful the Gaza Strip person pushed the territory’s healthcare strategy “to the brink of full illness with catastrophic effect connected Palestinians’ entree to wellness and aesculapian care”.

The 23-page study looked astatine the play from October 7, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

During this clip determination were astatine slightest 136 attacks connected 27 hospitals and 12 different aesculapian facilities, inflicting important casualties among doctors, nurses, medics, and different civilians portion causing important harm to, if not the implicit demolition of, civilian infrastructure.

A UN delegation visits Kamal Adwan Hospital successful Beit Lahiya successful September [Hassan Zaanin/Anadolu]

‘A death trap’

The study highlighted that planetary humanitarian instrumentality explicitly protects aesculapian unit and hospitals arsenic agelong arsenic they bash not prosecute successful oregon are not utilized to perpetrate acts harmful to the force extracurricular their humanitarian function.

“Insufficient accusation has truthful acold been made publically disposable to substantiate these allegations, which person remained vague and broad, and successful immoderate cases look contradicted by publically disposable information,” the UN study said.

The deliberate demolition of healthcare facilities “may magnitude to a signifier of corporate punishment, which would besides represent a warfare crime”, it added.

“The 1 sanctuary wherever Palestinians should person felt harmless successful information became a decease trap,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said. “The extortion of hospitals during warfare is paramount and indispensable beryllium respected by each sides astatine each times.”

Israel has successful caller days escalated attacks connected the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital successful bluish Gaza, detaining its director.

The World Health Organization said the Kamal Adwan Hospital’s remaining 15 captious patients, 50 caregivers, and 20 wellness workers were transferred connected Friday to the adjacent Indonesian Hospital, which it described arsenic “destroyed and non-functional”.

Hamas dismissed Israel’s assertion its members operated from the infirmary passim the 15-month Gaza war, saying nary fighters had been there.

Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera adjacent if his state did supply grounds to backmost up claims that Hamas utilized aesculapian facilities for subject operations, it would not warrant attacking hospitals.

“There is simply a discrepancy betwixt the large headlines … and the nonaccomplishment to travel up with the grounds to enactment this,” helium said.

While the Israeli subject said much than 250 Hamas fighters were arrested astatine Kamal Adwan Hospital successful bluish Gaza, Pinkas noted adjacent if that is true, it inactive “does not warrant rendering the infirmary inoperative”.

Transparent investigation

The study called for credible, autarkic investigations into the wellness installation attacks, emphasising the “limitations” of Israel’s justness strategy successful addressing the actions of its equipped forces.

“It is indispensable that determination beryllium independent, thorough and transparent investigations of each of these incidents, and afloat accountability for each violations of planetary humanitarian and quality rights instrumentality which person taken place,” said Turk.

He besides urged that “all aesculapian workers arbitrarily detained indispensable beryllium instantly released”.

“It indispensable besides beryllium a precedence for Israel, arsenic the occupying power, to guarantee and facilitate entree to capable healthcare for the Palestinian population,” Turk said.

Israel’s warfare connected Gaza has killed more than 45,500 people successful the besieged territory, mostly civilians, according to the Health Ministry.

Source

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies