U.N. body accuses Israel of destroying Gaza healthcare

ZURICH (Reuters) -Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza have devastated the Palestinian enclave's health system and raised serious concerns about Israel's compliance with international law, the U.N. Human Rights Office said in a report on Tuesday.

The 23-page report, documenting various attacks between Oct. 12, 2023, and June 30, 2024, concluded that since the Hamas attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the conduct of hostilities in Gaza had had severe consequences on Palestinians' access to medical attention.

"The destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza, and the extent of killing of patients, staff, and other civilians in these attacks, is a direct consequence of the disregard of international humanitarian and human rights law," it said.

Daniel Meron, Israel's permanent representative to the U.N. in Geneva, described the report's data as fabricated. He said on X that Israel operates in accordance with international law, would never target innocent civilians, and accused Hamas of using Gaza hospitals for what he called "terror activity".

The Israeli military has accused Hamas of using hospitals as command centres for military operations and said that people Israel has detained at the facilities were suspected militants.

The U.N. report alluded to such arguments but said not enough information had been made public to substantiate them.

Israel has in the past few days conducted operations against hospitals in Gaza that drew criticism from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) among others.

The report said deliberately directing attacks against hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are, provided they are not military objectives, would be war crimes.

It also warned that a systemic pattern of rights abuses against civilians could constitute crimes against humanity.

Israel has consistently rejected such suggestions.

The U.N. said that responding to its report, the Israeli government said its military had taken extensive measures to mitigate civilian harm and minimize disruption, including providing aid and evacuation routes, and setting up field hospitals.

In a statement, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said: "As if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe in fact became a death trap."

Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 to Gaza in its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 45,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's subsequent campaign against Hamas in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Maytaal Angel in Jerusalem; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Howard Goller)

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