{"id":32839,"date":"2023-11-14T19:24:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T18:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=32839"},"modified":"2024-08-11T07:42:18","modified_gmt":"2024-08-11T05:42:18","slug":"gaza-unlawful-israeli-hospital-strikes-worsen-health-crisis-and-should-be-investigated-as-war-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=32839","title":{"rendered":"Gaza: Unlawful Israeli Hospital Strikes Worsen Health Crisis and should be Investigated as\u00a0War Crimes."},"content":{"rendered":"
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. . HUMAN RIGHTS . . <\/p>\n

An article from Human Rights Watch<\/a> (Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND\/3.0\/us\/)<\/p>\n

\u00b0 The Israeli military\u2019s repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying Gaza\u2019s healthcare system and should be investigated as\u00a0war crimes.<\/p>\n

\u00b0 Concerns about disproportionate attacks are magnified for hospitals. Even the threat of an attack or minor damage can have massive life-or-death implications for patients and caregivers.<\/p>\n

\u00b0 The Israeli government should end attacks on hospitals. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the ICC should investigate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nMedical workers treat a Palestinian injured in an Israeli strike, using flashlights due to the lack of electricity at the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, November 10, 2023.\u00a0\u00a9 2023 Anas al-Shareef\/Reuters
\n<\/center><\/p>\n

(Jerusalem) \u2013 The\u00a0Israeli\u00a0military\u2019s repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying the Gaza Strip\u2019s healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite the Israeli military\u2019s claims on November 5, 2023, of \u201cHamas\u2019s cynical use of hospitals,\u201d no evidence put forward would justify depriving hospitals and ambulances of their protected status under\u00a0international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n

(Note by the editor: There is no doubt that there are tunnels and bunkers underneath Al Shifa hospital, because they were constructed not by Hamas but by the Israelis, according to a recent CNN interview with a former Israeli prime minister.)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The World Health Organization (WHO<\/a>) has\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a>that at least 521 people, including 16 medical workers, have been killed in 137 \u201cattacks on health care\u201d in Gaza as of November 12. These attacks, alongside Israel\u2019s decisions to cut off electricity and water and block humanitarian aid to Gaza, have severely impeded health care access. The United Nations found as of November 10 that two-thirds of primary care facilities and half of all hospitals in Gaza are not functioning at a time when medical personnel are dealing with unprecedented numbers of severely injured patients. Hospitals have run out of medicine and basic equipment, and doctors told Human Rights Watch that they were forced to operate without anesthesia and to use vinegar as an antiseptic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael\u2019s repeated attacks damaging hospitals and harming healthcare workers, already hard hit by an unlawful blockade, have devastated Gaza\u2019s healthcare infrastructure,\u201d said\u00a0 A. Kayum Ahmed<\/a>, special adviser on the right to health at Human Rights Watch. \u201cThe strikes on hospitals have killed hundreds of people and put many patients at grave risk because they\u2019re unable to receive proper medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch investigated attacks on or near the Indonesian Hospital, al-Ahli Hospital, the International Eye Care Center, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, and the al-Quds Hospital between October 7 and November 7. Human Rights Watch spoke by phone with two displaced people sheltering in hospitals and 16 healthcare workers and hospital officials in Gaza and analyzed and verified open-source data, including videos posted to social media and satellite imagery, as well as WHO databases.<\/p>\n

Israeli forces struck the Indonesian Hospital multiple times between October 7 and October 28, killing at least two civilians. The International Eye Care Center was struck repeatedly and completely destroyed after a strike on October 10 or 11. Strikes hit the compound and vicinity of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital on October 30 and 31. Damage to the hospital as well as a lack of fuel for hospital generators resulted in its closure on November 1. Repeated Israeli strikes damaged the al-Quds Hospital and injured a man and child out front. Israeli forces on several occasions struck well-marked ambulances, killing and wounding at least a dozen people in\u00a0one incident\u00a0on November 3, including children, outside al-Shifa hospital.<\/p>\n

These ongoing attacks are not isolated. Israeli forces have also carried out scores of strikes damaging several other\u00a0hospitals\u00a0<\/a> across Gaza. <\/p>\n

WHO\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a> that as of November 10, 18 out of 36 hospitals and 46 out of 72 primary care clinics were forced to shut down. The forced closure of these facilities stems from damage caused by attacks as well as the lack of electricity and fuel.<\/p>\n

Health workers at Gaza\u2019s hospitals told Human Rights Watch they are dealing with unprecedented numbers of injured patients. Additionally, thousands of internally displaced people sheltering at hospitals have been put at risk, facing shortages of food and medicine. Gaza\u2019s hospitals have been forced to address these issues with shortages of medical staff, some of whom have been killed or injured outside their work.<\/p>\n

A doctor at Nasser Medical Center said: \u201cAt 3 a.m. I dealt with a 60-year-old woman with a cut wound in her head. I can\u2019t make a suture to heal her wound\u2014no gloves, no equipment\u2014so we have to use unsterile techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hospitals and other medical facilities are civilian objects that have special protections under international humanitarian law, or the laws of war. Hospitals only lose their protection from attack if they are being used to commit \u201cacts harmful to the enemy,\u201d and after a required warning. Even if military forces unlawfully use a hospital to store weapons or encamp able-bodied combatants, the attacking force must issue a warning to cease this misuse, set a reasonable time limit for it to end, and lawfully attack only after such a warning has gone unheeded. Ordering patients, medical staff, and others to evacuate a hospital should only be used as a last resort. Medical personnel need to be protected and permitted to do their work.<\/p>\n

All warring parties must take constant care to minimize harm to civilians. Attacks on hospitals being used to commit \u201cacts harmful to the enemy\u201d are still unlawful if indiscriminate or disproportionate. The use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas heightens the risk of indiscriminate attacks. Attacks in which the anticipated loss of civilian life and property are excessive compared with the concrete and direct military gain are disproportionate. Concerns about disproportionate attacks are magnified with respect to hospitals, since even the threat of an attack or minor damage can have massive life-or-death implications for patients and their caregivers.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military on October 27 claimed that \u201cHamas uses hospitals as terror infrastructures,\u201d publishing footage alleging that Hamas was operating from Gaza\u2019s largest hospital, al-Shifa. Israel also alleged that Hamas was using the Indonesian Hospital to hide an underground command and control center and that they had deployed a rocket launchpad 75 meters from the hospital.<\/p>\n

These claims are contested. Human Rights Watch has not been able to corroborate them, nor seen any information that would justify attacks on Gaza hospitals. When a journalist at a news conference showing video footage of damage to the Qatar Hospital sought additional information to verify voice recordings and images presented, the Israeli spokesperson said, \u201cour strikes are based on intelligence.\u201d Even if accurate, Israel has not demonstrated that the ensuing hospital attacks were proportionate.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s general evacuation order on October 13 to\u00a022 hospitals\u00a0<\/a> in northern Gaza was not an effective warning because it did not take into account the specific requirements for hospitals, including providing for the safety of patients and medical personnel. The sweeping nature of the order and the impossibility of safe compliance, given that there is no reliably secure way to flee or safe place to go in Gaza, also raised concerns that the purpose was not to protect civilians, but to terrify them into leaving. The WHO director general has\u00a0said\u00a0that \u201cit\u2019s impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israeli government should immediately end unlawful attacks on hospitals, ambulances, and other civilian objects, as well as its total blockade of the Gaza Strip, which amounts to the war crime of\u00a0collective punishment, Human Rights Watch said. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups need to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians under their control from the effects of attacks and not use civilians as \u201chuman shields.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel should investigate apparently unlawful Israeli attacks on healthcare infrastructure in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The International Criminal Court prosecutor has jurisdiction over the current hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups that covers unlawful conduct by all parties. The ICC\u2019s\u00a0Rome Statute\u00a0<\/a> prohibits as a war crime \u201c[i]ntentionally directing attacks against \u2026 medical units and transport.\u201d Israeli and Palestinian officials should cooperate with the commission and the ICC in their work, Human Rights Watch said.<\/p>\n

The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and other countries should\u00a0suspend military assistance and arms sales\u00a0<\/a> to Israel as long as its forces continue to commit widespread, serious abuses amounting to war crimes against Palestinian civilians with impunity. All governments should demand that Israel restore the flow of electricity and water to Gaza and\u00a0allow in fuel and humanitarian aid<\/a>, ensuring that water, food, and medication reach Gaza\u2019s civilian population.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael\u2019s broad-based attack on Gaza\u2019s healthcare system is an attack on the sick and the injured, on babies in incubators, on pregnant people, on cancer patients,\u201d Ahmed said. \u201cThese actions need to be investigated as war crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blockade\u2019s Effect on Hospitals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s\u00a0blockade\u00a0<\/a> has severely constrained hospitals, which have run out of essential medicines and basic equipment. While Israeli authorities have allowed minimal humanitarian aid into Gaza, they have continued to\u00a0block\u00a0<\/a> the entry of fuel, which hospitals need for their generators.\u00a0WHO\u00a0<\/a> reported that \u201chospitals are on the brink of collapse due to the shortage of electricity, medicine, equipment and specialized personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

On October 22, the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF<\/a>) expressed grave concern about the impact of the blockade. They noted that 120 newborn children were in incubators, 70 of whom required mechanical ventilation. The incubators and ventilators cannot operate without a stable electricity supply. \u201cThe death toll will increase exponentially if incubators start to fail, if hospitals go dark, if children continue to drink unsafe water and have no access to medicine when they get sick,\u201d\u00a0UNICEF\u00a0<\/a> said. Between November 11 and 13, three premature babies and 29 other patients reportedly died at al-Shifa hospital amid the power outage and lack of medical supplies, according to UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Emerging reports show that unsanitary conditions at hospitals are further affecting access to health care.\u00a0Tanya Haj Hassan<\/a>, a doctor who runs a support\u00a0network\u00a0<\/a> for Gaza healthcare workers, told The Guardian that \u201chundreds of people are sharing one toilet and living in the hospital corridors, and that obviously has significant concerns for hygiene, sanitation and the functioning of the hospitals.\u201d Doctors are also reporting that more and more patients are showing signs of\u00a0disease\u00a0<\/a> associated with overcrowding and a lack of sanitation.<\/p>\n

A doctor at al-Aqsa Hospital told Human Rights Watch on October 23: \u201cThere is a huge shortage of medicines, no electricity, no diesel, no solar, no water to drink or to use. And the electricity company shut electricity to all civilians. \u2026 There is a chronic triage and restrictions on medication; we have had to make referrals to Egypt, but there is no way to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli Evacuation Orders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israeli authorities\u00a0have ordered\u00a0<\/a> the evacuation of all 22 hospitals in Gaza city and northern Gaza. \u201cThese [evacuation orders] are impossible to carry out, risking the lives of inpatients and\u00a0internally displaced persons\u00a0(IDPs), and particularly the most vulnerable requiring life support,\u201d WHO said, adding that there is \u201cinsufficient ambulance capacity for transfer and insufficient bed capacity to care for these patients in the south.\u201d WHO described the order as \u201ca death sentence for the sick and injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

OCHA\u00a0<\/a> expressed concern that \u201cthousands of patients and medical staff, as well as about 117,000 IDPs, are staying in these facilities.\u201d M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (Doctors Without Borders or MSF) general director Meinie Nicolai said: \u201cIsrael\u2019s 24-hour notice that people in Northern Gaza must leave their land, homes and hospitals is outrageous\u2014this represents an attack on medical care and on humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of November 13, all but one of the hospitals in Gaza city and northern Gaza are reportedly out of service, according to\u00a0OCHA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch interviewed two people with disabilities sheltering in hospitals who said they could not evacuate. \u201cIf they bomb the hospital, I will be dead. I know I cannot move,\u201d said Samih al-Masri, a 50-year-old man who said he lost both legs in an Israeli drone strike in 2008 and was sheltering at al-Quds hospital.<\/p>\n

Indonesian Hospital<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2028The Israeli military repeatedly struck the compound and vicinity of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya,\u00a0one\u00a0<\/a> of two major hospitals in northern Gaza.<\/p>\n

On October 7, an airstrike hit an area behind the Indonesian Hospital, which OCHA\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a> killed two men, including a staff member, and injured five others. Hosni Salha, a security guard, was killed while sitting in one of the hospital\u2019s vehicles along with the driver and a paramedic, a doctor from the hospital said. After the attack, the doctor took a photo at the scene that shows a destroyed vehicle. The second civilian was a man passing by the hospital when the attack occurred, the doctor said.<\/p>\n

(continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question related to this article:<\/div>\n
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How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?<\/a> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(continued from left column)<\/p>\n

The doctor said that the hospital was treating patients injured in the hostilities, including families wounded in airstrikes that hit their homes. He said that following airstrikes that hit his apartment building, he searched for his daughter, a second-year engineering student. The strikes killed her and four other civilians, including a child: \u201cI started digging with my hands with all my strength; civil defense members haven\u2019t arrived yet. I kept digging with my hands until I saw part of her t-shirt, I kept digging, when I saw her, she was already martyred.\u201d<\/p>\n

The doctor said the Israeli military provided no order to evacuate or advance warning before the first attack on the hospital. He said that on October 13, a week after the first strike, the hospital received an Israeli evacuation order.<\/p>\n

Even those who finish their treatment can\u2019t leave. They have no place to go after losing their houses and families and there is no safe place. We have a girl at the hospital who lost her entire family. She currently has no one to stay with, no place to go to. There\u2019s also a boy staying at the hospital. We are waiting for him to be identified by a family member or relative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On October 16, another airstrike hit five meters away from the hospital, partially damaging the building, which the doctor said terrified patients and staff.<\/p>\n

He said that on the night of October 27, after the Israeli government apparently deliberately disrupted telecommunications in Gaza, the hospital was struck again, causing additional damage to the building. Human Rights Watch geolocated a video and three photographs released on October 28 showing a crater inside the hospital\u2019s courtyard.<\/p>\n

On October 30, OCHA\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a> that this attack came after a renewed order by the Israeli military to immediately evacuate the hospital.<\/p>\n

CCTV footage<\/a> published by Al Jazeera on October 29 shows the moments the hospital ceiling collapsed due to strikes near the hospital. The hospital published photos<\/a> of the collapsed ceiling to its Facebook page, which it said were the result of strikes in the vicinity of the hospital. Another strike on October 30<\/a> targeted an area near the hospital, causing dust and smoke to spread to its entrance. Footage from November 4<\/a> and November 6<\/a> show additional strikes in the hospital’s vicinity.<\/p>\n

In a November 5 news conference, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson alleged that \u201cthe Indonesian Hospital is being used by Hamas to hide an underground command and control center,\u201d that Hamas had a rocket launchpad 75 meters from the hospital, and that it was stealing fuel from the hospital.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0news conference\u00a0<\/a> the next day, the Indonesia-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), a volunteer group that funds the hospital, disputed the allegations, stating that the only tunnel connected to the hospital was used to send fuel to the hospital\u2019s fuel tank to power its generators. Human Rights Watch is not in a position to corroborate the claims by Israel or the committee.<\/p>\n

A MER-C volunteer told the media on October 30 that 2,530 people had been treated at the hospital for injuries and that 164 patients remained hospitalized. He said that more than 1,500 displaced residents were also sheltering in empty hospital rooms and in courtyards. On October 31, an\u00a0influx\u00a0<\/a> of patients were sent to the hospital following an Israeli airstrike on Jabalia\u00a0refugee\u00a0camp that Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a> killed more than 50 people and injured 150. On November 2, Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a> that the hospital\u2019s main generator stopped operating due to a lack of fuel.<\/p>\n

International Eye Hospital
\n\u2028Human Rights Watch reviewed and verified photos and video footage of the International Eye Hospital in the\u00a0Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City showing large structural damage to the main building. In the published material and in satellite imagery from October 10 and 11, damage signatures are consistent with an airstrike using a large air-dropped munition. Two strikes appear to have taken place: one on October 8 and another on October 10 or 11, which destroyed the facility. On October 21, the hospital wrote in a\u00a0post\u00a0<\/a> on its Facebook page that the \u201chospital no longer exists\u201d with a photo showing its\u00a0complete destruction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch was unable to find any published information from Israeli authorities in English, Arabic, or Hebrew reflecting that any advance warning was given or providing any legal basis for the attacks on the medical facility.<\/p>\n

Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2028Beginning the night of October 30-31, the Israeli military repeatedly struck the compound and vicinity of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, south of Gaza City on the campus of the Islamic University of Gaza\u2019s Faculty of Medicine. The hospital\u00a0served\u00a0as the only specialized cancer treatment center in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

In satellite imagery collected on the morning of October 30, three impact craters are visible, one measuring 10 meters in diameter, less than 100 meters from the main hospital complex. On the morning after, an additional crater is visible within the hospital complex in the courtyard, measuring at least 15 meters in diameter.<\/p>\n

OCHA\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a> on October 31 that the hospital had been \u201chit for the second night in a row,\u201d that there was damage to the third floor, and that staff and people sheltering in the hospital were exposed to smoke, causing suffocation and panic.<\/p>\n

The hospital director, Sobhi Skaik, told Human Rights Watch on November 3 that the October 31 attack struck the third floor of the hospital, affecting both the east and west wings, as well as the approximately 100 to 150 cancer patients there, their families, and hospital staff.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch verified several videos posted on social media that show the effects of the attacks. A\u00a0video\u00a0<\/a> posted to social media early on October 30 shows damage to the hospital\u2019s interior. A\u00a0video\u00a0<\/a> taken from inside the hospital and published on social media early in the evening on October 30 shows a strike near the hospital complex. A loud blast is heard in the video followed by billowing smoke.<\/p>\n

Photos and video published by the media and on social media on October 31 show damage inside the hospital\u2019s east wing, where there is a large circular hole in the southeastern-facing exterior wall, blown out windows, and a destroyed interior wall.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch determined that the damage was most likely caused by a shell from a direct fire weapon, such as a tank\u2019s main gun. A\u00a0video\u00a0<\/a> posted on social media on October 30 shows an Israeli tank along Salah al-Din Road, 1.7 kilometers east of the hospital. Multiple clusters of armored military vehicles, including tanks and bulldozers, are also visible on satellite imagery from October 31 southeast of the hospital following the Israeli offensive inside the Gaza Strip. On that day, the closest armored vehicles were less than 500 meters from the hospital.<\/p>\n

The hospital\u00a0shut down\u00a0<\/a> on November 1 because of the airstrikes and lack of fuel. Skaik said hospital staff were forced to evacuate patients to the Dar al-Salam hospital in Khan Younis in unsafe conditions. \u201cWe evacuated under fire,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had no protection.\u201d He said an international agency told him that all they could do was \u201cconvey the message\u201d to the Israelis.<\/p>\n

According\u00a0 to Skaik and the Gaza Health Ministry, on November 2, four cancer patients died following the hospital evacuation. Skaik said that Dar al-Salam hospital was trying to provide services but that it was unable to provide the cancer patients the treatment they needed without the medical devices at the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which cannot be transferred, and that medications were running out. The Health Ministry warned that the condition of 70 of the hospital\u2019s cancer patients was critical.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch was unable to find any published information from Israeli authorities in English, Arabic, or Hebrew providing any advance warning to the hospital or a legal basis for the attacks on the medical facility.\u00a0Turkish\u00a0<\/a> officials have condemned the Israeli military\u2019s attack on the hospital as a violation of\u00a0international law.<\/p>\n

Al-Quds Hospital<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2028Multiple Israeli strikes had hit the vicinity of the al-Quds hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City by October 16, as shown in videos and photos posted to social media that Human Rights Watch collected and reviewed. The strikes followed Israeli evacuation orders, despite visual\u00a0evidence\u00a0<\/a> that the hospital was being used to treat patients and shelter\u00a0displaced families<\/a>.\u00a0Several high-rise buildings were completely destroyed in the streets adjacent to the hospital, as is evident in November 6 satellite imagery.<\/p>\n

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) issued a\u00a0statement\u00a0 that the hospital, which is under its auspices, had received an Israeli order to evacuate by 4 p.m. (initially 6 a.m.) on October 14. By October 16, strikes had hit the vicinity of the hospital five times, the PRCS said. A video it\u00a0published\u00a0<\/a> on October 18 shows a strike hitting less than 200 meters from the hospital\u2019s entrance.<\/p>\n

On October 20, the PRCS reported that the Israeli authorities warned about a strike on the hospital by phone<\/a> and ordered an evacuation. On October 22, Israeli authorities reportedly ordered the hospital to evacuate twice<\/a> within the span of half an hour. The PRCS posted a video from inside the hospital showing<\/a> people standing at its entrance following what the hospital said were intense Israeli strikes 20 meters away. The hospital said the strikes occurred during a meeting<\/a> of hospital staff with the International Committee of the Red Cross.<\/p>\n

On October 29, the PRCS said<\/a> that Israeli authorities warned it about a strike on the hospital and ordered an immediate evacuation, which was preceded by strikes that destroyed buildings as close as 50 meters from the hospital. Footage published on October 29 show<\/a>s a strike next to the hospital building, just in front of another PRCS site, and damages<\/a> to the hospital. Videos published on October 30 show<\/a> the aftermath of the strike and damage to the PRCS site.<\/p>\n

Strikes hitting the vicinity of the hospital continued<\/a> on October 31, according to posts by the PRCS. Footage published on November 2 by the PRCS and other social media accounts show additional<\/a> strikes<\/a> in the vicinity the hospital. The PRCS announced<\/a> on November 2 that fire from Israeli vehicles one kilometer south injured a man and child in front of the hospital and hit the sixth floor of the hospital where many displaced women and children were sheltering, damaging the hospital\u2019s central air conditioning units and a water tank.<\/p>\n

Video footage shows shattered windows<\/a>, smoke<\/a>,<\/u> and dust as a result of what appears to be an explosion roughly 35 meters northwest of the main hospital entrance on November 3. The PRCS reported<\/a> that the attack, whose effects are shown in video footage<\/a> posted on social media, shattered<\/a> internal glass panels and collapsed parts of the hospital\u2019s plaster ceiling. There were 21 injuries<\/a> reported<\/u>, mostly to women and children. Further strikes were reported near the hospital throughout<\/a> the<\/a> day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On November 5, footage<\/a> shows medical personnel moving an injured man into the hospital while an explosion is audible in the background after a hit nearby. The PRCS stated<\/a> that the strikes then increased in intensity, duration, and proximity to the hospital, and have led to 12 injuries among people sheltering inside, in addition to injuries to two patients, one of whom was in the intensive care unit.<\/p>\n

OCHA reported<\/a> that 14,000 displaced people were in al-Quds hospital along with hospital staff and patients as of October 29. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned that hundreds of injured, bed-ridden, and long-term patients, including those in intensive care, on life-support, and babies in incubators, were being endangered by strikes in the vicinity of the hospital along with displaced people and medical staff, and that it \u201cis close to, if not impossible\u201d to evacuate patients in the current situation.<\/a><\/p>\n

Strikes on Ambulances<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israeli forces have on several occasions struck ambulances marked with the Red Cross or Red Crescent emblem, often near hospitals. Ambulances, like medical facilities, have special protections under the laws of war such that they may not be attacked unless being used to commit \u201cacts harmful to the enemy\u201d and after due warning. In at least one case, the Israeli military claimed that armed groups were unlawfully using the ambulance that had been attacked, but did not provide more information or a warning.<\/p>\n

On November 3, the Israeli military struck a marked ambulance just outside of Gaza City\u2019s al-Shifa hospital. Video footage and photographs taken shortly after the strike and verified by Human Rights Watch show a woman on a stretcher in the ambulance and at least 21 dead or injured people in the area surrounding the ambulance, including at least 5 children. Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry reported that 15 people were killed and 60 injured in the strike. An IDF spokesperson said in a televised interview that day: \u201cOur forces saw terrorists using ambulances as a vehicle to move around. They perceived a threat and accordingly we struck that ambulance.\u201d Human Rights Watch\u00a0did not find\u00a0<\/a> evidence that the ambulance was being used for military purposes.<\/p>\n

On October 7, WHO\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a> that an ambulance in front of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis was struck around 2 p.m., injuring several paramedics. A verified\u00a0video\u00a0<\/a> posted to social media and an Anadolu Agency photograph showed the destroyed ambulance outside the complex.<\/p>\n

WHO\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a> that a separate attack on October 7, which hit two ambulances in Jabalia, killed two paramedics and injured others.<\/p>\n

Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry also reported that on October 13, Israeli strikes hit three ambulances, injuring 10 paramedics.<\/p>\n

Hostilities and Blockade<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Israeli military\u2019s current operations in Gaza began following an October 7 Hamas-led attack in southern Israel that resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people, hundreds of them civilians, according to the Israeli government. Hamas and Islamic Jihad took hostage 240 people, including children, people with disabilities, and older people. Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have also launched thousands of rockets indiscriminately towards Israeli population centers.<\/p>\n

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. . HUMAN RIGHTS . . An article from Human Rights Watch (Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND\/3.0\/us\/) \u00b0 The Israeli military\u2019s repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying Gaza\u2019s healthcare system and should be investigated as\u00a0war crimes. \u00b0 Concerns about disproportionate attacks are magnified for hospitals. Even the threat of … Continue reading Gaza: Unlawful Israeli Hospital Strikes Worsen Health Crisis and should be Investigated as\u00a0War Crimes.<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,74],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-32839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","category-mideast","tag-mideast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32839"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35525,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32839\/revisions\/35525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}