Israeli attack on the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital and its surrounding buildings in Beit Lahia, Gaza on 25 December [Getty]
A United Nations report on Tuesday found that Israel’s claims that Gaza hospitals were being improperly used for military purposes by Palestinian groups were “vague”.
The 23-page report condemned Israeli attacks on hospitals, saying they had devastated the enclave’s health system and raised serious concerns about Israel’s compliance with international law.
In the report documenting various attacks between 12 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, the UN rights office said they had documented severe consequences of Palestinians’ lack of access to medical attention.
It also said Israeli allegations did not match up to public information on the situation in hospitals in Gaza.
“Insufficient information has so far been made publicly available to substantiate these allegations, which have remained vague and broad, and in some cases appear contradicted by publicly available information,” the report said, adding that Israel had “destroyed” local healthcare.
“The destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza, and the extent of the killing of patients, staff, and other civilians in these attacks, is a direct consequence of the disregard of international humanitarian and human rights law,” it said.
In its war on the besieged enclave, Israel has regularly targeted hospitals claiming – without providing any evidence – that they were “command centres” for Hamas. It also detained doctors, medical staff and even patients saying they were “suspected militants”.
Its latest operations against the Kamal Adwan Hospital drew criticism from the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other rights groups.
The report said deliberately directing attacks against hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are, provided they are not military objectives, would be war crimes.
It also warned that a systemic pattern of rights abuses against civilians could constitute crimes against humanity.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said the report’s findings pointed to a “blatant disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law”.
“As if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe in fact became a death trap,” Türk said in a statement.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians – most of whom were women and children – and turned the enclave into a wasteland.
