UN inquiry accuses Israel of seeking to destroy Gaza healthcare system
The UN Commission of Inquiry for the occupied Palestinian territories issued a report on 10 October, finding that Israel has sought to destroy Gaza’s health care system as part of a war of extermination on Palestinians.
“Israel has perpetrated a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system as part of a broader assault on Gaza, committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities,” a statement issued by the UN inquiry said.
“Israeli security forces have deliberately killed, detained and tortured medical personnel and targeted medical vehicles” while preventing injured Palestinians from escaping Gaza to receive treatment abroad, the statement added.
“Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system,” a statement by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.
The 24-page report covered the first 10 months of the war and will be presented to the UN General Assembly at the end of October.
The report cited Israel’s killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab and several of her family members by tank fire in late January.
Hind’s killing was widely publicized after an audio recording was released of her calling Palestinian rescuers by phone, begging for help after other members of her family had been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to flee in their car.
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The report “determined on reasonable grounds that the Israeli Army’s 162nd Division,” which operated in the area at the time, was “responsible for killing the family of seven” trapped in their car and “shelling the ambulance and killing the two paramedics inside” trying to rescue them.
The report noted that an Israeli tank driver opened fire on the ambulance while within 50 meters of Hind and her family, even though the paramedics had notified Israeli forces in advance of their rescue effort.
The UN report documented Israeli attacks on Gaza hospitals, stating, “Israeli security forces carried out air strikes against hospitals, causing considerable damage to buildings and surroundings, as well as multiple casualties.”
The report found that Israeli forces also “surrounded and besieged hospital premises; prevented the entry of goods and medical equipment and exit/entry of civilians; issued evacuation orders but prevented safe evacuations; and raided hospitals, arresting hospital staff and patients. Israeli security forces also obstructed access by humanitarian agencies.”
In December, infants were found dead and decomposing in an evacuated hospital ICU in Gaza after Israeli troops forced the hospital staff to evacuate.
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 accused Israel of obstructing the inquiry and preventing investigators from accessing both Israel and Gaza.
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