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UN rights chief says attacks on Gaza hospitals risk war crimes, urges independent probes
Summary
Volker Türk reviewed a UN office report documenting strikes on hospitals in Gaza, described civilian suffering including newborn deaths, and called for independent investigations, a ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access.
Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the U.N. Human Rights Council that a “human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world,” and urged independent, transparent investigations into attacks on hospitals and medical personnel.
Türk said a report by his office covering Oct. 7, 2023, to June 30, 2024, documents patterns of strikes on hospitals in Gaza that frequently began with Israeli air strikes followed by ground raids. The report, he said, records at least 136 strikes on at least 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities and describes killings, detention and forced removal of patients and staff that left facilities nonfunctional.
The findings matter because those hospitals “provided sanctuary for thousands of people with nowhere else to go,” Türk said. He described widespread consequences for civilians, including that “6 babies have reportedly died of hypothermia in the past few days alone.” He said the Ministry of Health of the State of Palestine reports more than 100,000 Palestinians have been injured in Gaza and that many wounded people have died while awaiting treatment because of lack of access to care.
Türk also warned that deliberate attacks on hospitals or other medical facilities that are not military objectives would be breaches of international humanitarian law and could amount to war crimes. “Intentionally directing attacks against hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are treated, provided they are not military objectives, is a war crime,” he said. He added that, if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population, such acts could amount to crimes against humanity.
Israel, Türk said, has sometimes alleged that Palestinian armed groups such as Hamas used hospitals for military purposes; he said he had received a letter from the Israeli ambassador asserting that Kamal Adwan Hospital had been militarized. Türk said those allegations have not been supported with sufficient, specific information in many cases and in some instances appear contradicted by public information. He called for “independent, thorough, and transparent investigations into all Israeli attacks on hospitals, health care infrastructure, and medical personnel, as well as the alleged misuse of such facilities.”
Türk repeated a broader appeal for an immediate stop to the fighting so a long-term ceasefire can take hold, demanded that “all hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally,” and called on Israel, as the occupying power, to ensure and facilitate access to life-saving humanitarian aid including adequate health care in Gaza and to end its continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory in line with U.N. resolutions and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
The statement was a briefing and did not include formal council votes or motions. Türk closed by urging that future recovery and reconstruction prioritize restoration of Gaza’s health-care system.
