CNN
—
A UN investigation accused Israel of carrying out a “collaborative policy” to destroy the Gaza Strip’s health system during its year-long conflict with Hamas, and said the attack amounted to a war crime.
Israel’s actions in the besieged Palestinian enclave “constitute war crimes of deliberate killing and abuse, and crimes against humanity of extermination,” the commission said in a statement Thursday.
According to a report by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, in the Gaza Strip, “Israeli security forces intentionally targeted medical personnel and medical vehicles with killings, detentions, and torture. It is said that
As a result of Israeli attacks, “fuel, food, water, medicine, and medical supplies have been unable to reach hospitals, and permission for patients to leave the territory for treatment has also been significantly curtailed,” the report said.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the accusations “outrageous” and said, “This is another attempt by the Commission to delegitimize the very existence of the State of Israel and obstruct the right to protect its people while concealing the crimes of a terrorist organization.” “It’s a blatant attempt,” he said. ”
“This report shamelessly depicts Israeli activities in Gaza’s terror-infested medical facilities as a matter of policy towards Gaza’s healthcare system, while It completely refutes the overwhelming evidence that it is being systematically used for terrorist activities.”
Hamas uses medical facilities to hide operatives, store weapons, carry out attacks and hide hostages, the newspaper said. Hamas has repeatedly denied using the hospital for military operations.
The UN report also found that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups committed war crimes of “torture, inhuman or cruel treatment, rape, and sexual violence” for their treatment of Israeli hostages captured in Gaza. accused of committing a crime. It also investigated “institutional abuse” of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry denied “accusations of widespread abuse and torture of detainees” and said Israel was “fully committed to international legal standards” in its treatment of detainees.
In a statement accompanying the 24-page report, which has no legal force, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Israel must “immediately stop this unprecedented and wanton destruction” in Gaza. ” he said.
“Children in particular are bearing the brunt of these attacks and are being harmed directly and indirectly by the collapse of the health system,” she said.
As part of the report, UN experts investigated the murder of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab. Hind Rajab made headlines in late January after a recording of her pleading with emergency workers to rescue her and her family after being trapped in a shelter went viral. Cars hit by Israeli artillery.
Despite an ambulance arriving at the scene while the girl was still alive, the presence of Israeli security forces effectively “prevented access” and the bodies of Ms. Rajab’s relatives “were not riddled with bullets until 12 days after the incident.” This means that the vehicle could not be recovered from the damaged vehicle. ” the report said.
The report found that the “Israeli Army’s 162nd Division, which was operating in the area at the time,” was “reasonably responsible for killing seven family members and shelling the ambulance, killing the two paramedics inside.” “We made the decision based on evidence.”
The incident was just one of several alleged attacks on healthcare in Gaza amid the broader wartime situation.
The report will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly on October 30th.
The commission had previously argued that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during the early stages of the Gaza war, and that Israel’s actions also amounted to crimes against humanity.
