Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike on houses in Gaza City on Saturday. RAMI ALI/REUTERS
United Nations and World Health Organization officials slammed Israel's relentless targeting of healthcare facilities in Gaza at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, warning of "atrocity crimes" as hospitals became "battlefields".
They highlighted documented patterns of attacks on hospitals since October 2023, rejecting Israeli claims of Hamas militants operating in these facilities because of insufficient evidence.
"The destruction of hospitals across Gaza goes beyond depriving Palestinians of their rights to access adequate healthcare," Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told the council via video link. "Those hospitals provided sanctuary for thousands of people with nowhere else to go.
"I once more warn in the strongest terms about the risk of atrocity crimes being committed in the occupied Palestinian territory. I urge all those with influence to take action accordingly and to protect civilians as a matter of absolute priority. It is essential that there is full accountability for all violations of international humanitarian and human rights," he said.
Despite international condemnation, Israeli bombings continued unabated over the weekend. Health authorities in Gaza said on Sunday that 88 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll in the conflict to 45,805.
At Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, patients crowded the floors while others waited for access to the operating theater, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. Prolonged delays left some victims bleeding to death before receiving care.
The severe shortage of medical supplies has led to what Al Jazeera described as "silent deaths".
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Sunday that it had struck more than 100 "terror targets" in the Gaza Strip over the past two days.
Concerns voiced
During Friday's UN Security Council meeting, Turk said Israel's means and methods of warfare "have killed tens of thousands of people, inflicted vast displacement and laid waste to the territory", raising utmost concerns about compliance with international law.
"A recent report covered by my office from Oct 7, 2023, to June 30,2024, documents patterns of attacks on hospitals starting with Israeli airstrikes followed by raids, by ground troops, the detention of some patients and staff, the forced removal of others and the withdrawal of troops, leaving the hospitals essentially nonfunctional," Turk said.
He also reminded that "the protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides at all times".
Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the West Bank and Gaza, said, "Today, the WHO has verified 654 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza, resulting in 886 fatalities and 1,349 injuries."
The new year "begins on a somber and deeply worrying note" as 7 percent of the population of Gaza "have been killed or injured since October 2023", he said.
"Hospitals have become battlegrounds … the health center is being systematically dismantled, pushed to the breaking point."
More than 25 percent of the 105,000 injured civilians face life-changing injuries, Peeperkorn said. At the current rate, it would take five to 10 years to evacuate all critically ill patients, he added, noting that 12,000 people remain on waiting lists for urgent treatment abroad.
Israel's representative, however, repeated that Israeli forces had confirmed Hamas activities in the hospitals, while speakers and analysts said Israel should provide sufficient evidence for the claims.
Agencies contributed to this story.
