Senior officials of the United Nations and World Health Organization have slammed Israel’s relentless targeting of healthcare facilities in Gaza as a “human rights catastrophe unfolding before the eyes of the world” at a UN Security Council meeting on Jan 3, warning against “atrocity crimes” in Gaza for hospitals becoming “battlefields”.
Criticizing Israeli claims of Hamas militants in the facilities as lack of sufficient evidence, they said there have been documents on patterns of attacks on Gaza hospitals since October 2023.
“The destruction of hospitals across Gaza goes beyond depriving Palestinians of their rights to access adequate healthcare. Those hospitals provided sanctuary for thousands of people with no where else to go,” Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the council.
"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 by video.
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Despite the condemnation, Israeli bombings continued unabated on to the weekend. On Jan 5, Palestine’s Wafa news agency reported that several civilians, including children, were injured on Jan 4 in an Israeli airstrike targeting Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. According to local sources, Israeli warplanes struck a house belonging to the Tamraz family near the Ein Jalout Towers in the camp.
On the same day, Al Jazeera reported that more than 200 people had been killed in the past three days, also citing hospitals becoming overwhelmed.
At the emergency department at Al-Aqsa Hospital, people were left on the floor of the hospital and others were waiting to be admitted into the operating theatre but due to long waiting times, some people have reportedly bled to death.
The lack of medical supplies for those severely injured have reportedly led to “silent deaths”.
Türk told the UNSC that Israel’s means and methods of warfare “have killed tens of thousands of people, inflicted vast displacement and laid waste to the territory”, having raised 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 hospital essentially non-functional,” said Türk. The report also detailed the killings of patients, staff and other civilians, including more than 1,000 medical personnel.
The destruction brought by the Israeli military attacks last Friday on Kamal Adwan hospital, the last functioning hospital in north Gaza, reflects the patterns of attacks documented in the report, he added.
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Türk also noted that Hamas and other armed groups continued to launch sporadic and indiscriminate attacks on Israel and reportedly to expose civilians and civilian infrastructure including health facilities to attack by operating amongst them, “which is totally unacceptable”.
“The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides at all times,” he said.
Richard Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization representative for the West Bank and Gaza, noted at the UNSC meeting that 2025 “begins on a sombre and deeply worrying note” as seven percent of the population of Gaza “have been killed or injured since October 2023”.
“Hospitals have become battlegrounds….the health centre is being systematically dismantled, pushed to the breaking point,” said Peeperkorn by video.
“Today, the WHO has verified 654 attacks on health care facilities in Gaza, resulting in 886 fatalities and 1,349 injuries,” he added.
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Peeperkorn said over 25 percent of the 105,000 injured civilians now face life-changing injuries. At the current rate, he said, it would take five to 10 years to evacuate all these critically ill patients, noting that 12,000 people remain on waiting lists for urgent treatment abroad.
He said that only 16 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza “have been made partially functional”, while most hospitals can only provide basic care and lack the capacity for specialized treatment for chronic diseases and complex injuries leading to increased suffering and deaths.”
An Israeli representative repeated that Israeli forces confirmed Hamas activities in the hospitals, while speakers and analysts said Israel should provide sufficient evidence for the claims.
Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan from NGO, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) also noted that more than 1,000 healthcare workers have been killed since October 2023. She said despite the relentless violence, the medical professionals have continued their mission to save lives, often risking their own in the process.
“They are proud hard-working professionals who take their oath to care for their patients very seriously,” Dr. Haj-Hassan said.
Citing the Gaza Health Ministry, Al Jazeera reported on Jan 4 that the medical facility in the northern Strip “no longer provides any services to patients or the wounded”.
The report noted that the North Gaza governorate had three public hospitals, Kamal Adwan, Beit Hanoon and the Indonesian Hospital, but all have been “taken out of service by Israel’s offensive”.
Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya went out of service in the last week of December with its director being detained by the Israeli forces. The Israeli representative said at the UNSC that the director was in their detention under investigation.
“We have over 25,000 cancer, kidney and heart patients who are in serious need of urgent medical intervention, and some need to be evacuated outside Gaza Strip after the collapse of the health system,” Amjad Shawa, director of Palestinian NGO Network, told Al Jazeera in an interview.
In an update on Jan 3, Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, said on its X account that 1,200 blood units had entered Gaza on Jan 2 via the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and 3,000 units of plasma were also delivered to support blood tests and medical care at hospitals.
“We will continue expanding our efforts to facilitate humanitarian responses for the civilian population in Gaza,” its post said.
