A new report released by the UN Human Rights Office says Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on hospitals in Gaza have had a catastrophic effect on the territory’s healthcare system.
Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Tuesday the regime has used heavy bombs to attack civilians taking shelter in hospitals.
Laurence added that the UN office has also verified the precision targeting of people inside hospitals, including healthcare workers.
He stressed that deliberate attacks on places where the sick and wounded are treated is a war crime.
“And beyond the conflict itself, civilians were seriously impacted. Women, especially pregnant women, have suffered gravely,” he said.
“Our Office received reports that newborns had died because their mothers were unable to attend postnatal check-ups or reach medical facilities to give birth,” he added.
“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.
“Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities is a war crime. And intentionally launching disproportionate attacks is also war crime,” he stated.
Laurence said the Israeli regime’s pattern of deadly attacks on Gaza hospitals has pushed the healthcare system to the brink of total collapse.
His remarks came after UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, said earlier that Gaza's hospitals have become a death trap.
He urged independent and credible investigations into hospital-related incidents in Gaza.
Gaza’s population has been reduced by 6 percent since the beginning of the Israeli regime’s campaign of genocide in the besieged Palestinian territory in 2023, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said.
According to the bureau’s report published on Tuesday, the Israeli offensive has left 45,541 Palestinians dead, 11,000 missing and believed to be under the rubble. At least 100,000 have also been forced to flee, the report said.
The report reveals that “90% of children aged 6 to 23 months and pregnant women” face severe nutritional deficiencies in Gaza.
The report also indicates the Israeli forces deliberately “target specific groups of the population, such as children and youth,” which leads to a significant “distortion … of the population.”
According to the bureau, this will greatly reduce the birth rate, and negatively affect the age and gender structure of the population during the years to come.
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