Israeli attacks on Palestinian healthcare unprecedented in history, say UN reporters
Israel's representation at the UN in Geneva assessed that this statement is "very far from the truth" and that it "ignores key facts" and that "Hamas uses civilian buildings for military purposes."
Israel's unpunished attacks on the Palestinians' right to health are reaching proportions unprecedented in history, two United Nations special rapporteurs condemned on Thursday, after the Israeli raid on the "Kamal Advan" Hospital in Gaza and the arrest of its director.
Israel's representation at the UN in Geneva assessed that this statement is "very far from the truth" and that it "ignores key facts" and that "Hamas uses civilian buildings for military purposes."
The rapporteur for the situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, who has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, and the rapporteur for the right to physical and mental health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, demand "an end to the blatant disregard for the right to health in Gaza, after last week's raid in Kamal Advan Hospital and the arbitrary arrest and detention of its director Hossam Abu Safi".
"We are horrified and concerned by the reports from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and in particular by the attacks on health workers, including the last of the 22 hospitals that have now been destroyed: the 'Kamal Advan' hospital," wrote two experts mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council rights, but they do not speak for the UN.
They say they are "seriously concerned about the fate of Dr. Hossam Abu Safi" whose son they say was killed before his eyes, and demand his immediate release, as well as "all other health workers who have been arbitrarily detained."
"It is part of an Israeli pattern aimed at the continued bombing, destruction and total destruction of the exercise of the right to health in Gaza," they said.
According to the Israeli army, "Kamal Advan", which was the last major hospital operating in the north of the Palestinian territory devastated by more than a year of war, was a command center for the Islamist fighters of Hamas.
"It is well documented that Hamas uses hospitals and medical centers for terrorist activities," Israel's military told AFP when asked about the UN rapporteurs' statement.
"We continue to call on the international community to unequivocally demand that Hamas immediately stop using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as a shield for its terrorist activities," added the army, which said it was taking "all possible operational measures to mitigate harm to civilians, including convoys and aid workers." ".
More than 1.057 health workers died during the war in the Gaza Strip triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the reporters underlined, citing data from the Ministry of Health of the government of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed his regret on the X platform on Thursday about the "horribly slow" pace of medical evacuations from Gaza.
"Only 5.383 patients have been evacuated with WHO support since October 2023, including only 436 since the closure of the Rafah crossing" with Egypt in May 2024, he said. At that rate, "it will take five to ten years" to evacuate the more than 12.000 people who need help, he wrote.
( BETA, BH )