Oct 2024: UN Commission finds war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israeli attacks on Gaza health facilities and tr
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https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/un-commission-finds-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-israeli-attacks
UN Commission finds war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israeli attacks on Gaza health facilities and treatment of detainees, hostages
10 October 2024
GENEVA (10 October 2024) Israel has perpetrated a concerted policy to destroy Gazas healthcare system as part of a broader assault on Gaza, committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report today.
The Commission also investigated the treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israel and of Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza since 7 October 2023, and concluded that Israel and Palestinian armed groups are responsible for torture and sexual and gender-based violence.
Israel must immediately stop its unprecedented wanton destruction of healthcare facilities in Gaza, said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission. By targeting healthcare facilities, Israel is targeting the right to health itself with significant long-term detrimental effects on the civilian population. Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system.
The report found that Israeli security forces have deliberately killed, detained and tortured medical personnel and targeted medical vehicles while tightening their siege on Gaza and restricting permits to leave the territory for medical treatment. These actions constitute the war crimes of wilful killing and mistreatment and of the destruction of protected civilian property and the crime against humanity of extermination.
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