Diyar Guldogan
03 January 2025•Update: 04 January 2025
WASHINGTON
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday expressed concern over ongoing Israeli attacks on health care facilities in the Gaza Strip.
"A human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world," Türk told a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.
Israel's means and methods of warfare have killed tens of thousands of people, inflicted vast displacement and laid waste to the territory, he added.
"The destruction of hospitals across Gaza goes beyond depriving Palestinians of their right to access adequate health care. Those hospitals provided sanctuary for thousands of people with nowhere else to go," Turk stressed.
Underlining the UN repeatedly warned that Israel's military operations in North Gaza place the entire Palestinian population at risk through death and displacement, Turk said Israeli military operations in and around hospitals and associated combat have had a "terrible impact" precisely at a time of massive demands on health care due to the ongoing conflict.
Turk also called for "independent, thorough and transparent" investigations into all Israeli attacks on hospitals, healthcare infrastructure and medical personnel, as well as the alleged misuse of such facilities.
"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 added.
The rights chief called on Israel to ensure and facilitate access to live in humanitarian aid, including adequate health care for the Palestinian population, urging Israel to end its continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory "as rapidly as possible."
'Hospitals have become battlegrounds'
Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the West Bank and Gaza, told the Security Council that time and again hospitals have become battlegrounds, rendering them out of service and depriving those in need of lifesaving care.
Since Oct. 2023, Peeperkorn said almost every week the WHO has issued urgent calls to protect health workers and hospitals as per international humanitarian law.
"Yet these calls remain unheard. Attacks on hospitals persist," he lamented.
He warned that the health and humanitarian situation in North Gaza continues to deteriorate.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, the main hospital, was put out of service following a raid last week and relentless attacks since October this year, he added.
"Al-Awda, which is the last remaining minimally functional hospital in North Gaza, is struggling to stay open. Hostilities continue around the hospital, resulting in an influx of injuries. 37 in-patients remain inside. Food, water & fuel are depleting fast," Peeperkorn said.
He emphasized that despite the "incomprehensible" challenges, the health system of Gaza has not collapsed.
"It is deeply affected and bruised. But against all odds, health workers, WHO and partners have kept services going as much as possible," he stressed.
Israel has killed more than 45,550 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.
