UN experts urge Israel to stop ‘blatant disregard’ of right to health in Gaza

“For well over a year into the genocide, Israel’s blatant assault on the right to health in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory is plumbing new depths of impunity,” UN special rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, and UN special rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese, said in a statement.

“We are horrified and concerned by reports from northern Gaza and especially the attack on the healthcare workers including the last remaining of 22 now destroyed hospitals: Kamal Adwan Hospital,” they added

“We are gravely concerned with the fate of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, yet another doctor to be harassed, kidnapped and arbitrarily detained by the occupation forces, in his case for defying evacuation orders to leave his patients and colleagues behind. This is part of a pattern by Israel to continuously bombard, destroy and fully annihilate the realisation of the right to health in Gaza.”

“More disturbing reports indicate that Israeli forces allegedly conducted extrajudicial executions of some people in the vicinity of the hospital, including a Palestinian man who was reportedly holding a white flag,” they stated.

More than 1,057 Palestinian health and medical professionals have been killed and many arbitrarily arrested, according to the experts.

They urged Israeli authorities, as the occupying power, to respect and protect the right to life and the right to health in Gaza and the whole occupied Palestinian Territory by ensuring unhindered access to necessary health care and urgently restoring the continuity of essential health services in Gaza.

“Under occupation, intentional assaults on healthcare facilities have the potential to expose individuals to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and may constitute a war crime,” they said.

“In Gaza, this is clearly part of a well-established pattern of genocide, for which Israeli leaders will have to be held accountable,” they added.

Several members of UN Security Council on Friday expressed concern over Israeli attacks on the hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has killed more than 45,600 victims, mostly women and children, in Gaza since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.