Action is catastrophic blow to region's health care system, says ICHR
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) strongly condemned Israel on Sunday for burning Kamal Adwan Hospital, rendering it inoperative and further crippling the health care system in northern Gaza.
The assault, marked by forced evacuations, arrests of medical staff and the destruction of critical facilities, has left the region without functioning hospitals.
Israeli forces besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital on Dec. 27, forcing patients and medical teams to evacuate under artillery fire, according to ICHR documentation.
Critically ill patients were sent to the Indonesian Hospital, which was already out of service, while others were interrogated and searched after being forced to walk to the Al-Fakhoura area, the statement said.
Following the evacuation, the hospital was set ablaze, destroying its equipment and facilities, it added.
The ICHR quoted the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying that the Israeli military's actions amounted to "a systematic dismantling of Gaza's health care system, effectively sentencing tens of thousands of Palestinians reliant on it to death.”
Other hospitals in northern Gaza, including Beit Hanoun Governmental Hospital, are also out of service, leaving Al-Awda Hospital barely operational under constant bombardment.
The human rights group also denounced these actions as violations of international law, saying they constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Geneva Conventions.
The commission emphasized the long-term repercussions of these attacks, undermining the right to health for Gaza's population.
The ICHR further called for urgent international action, including the prosecution of Israeli leaders, an immediate UN Security Council resolution to protect Gaza's health care system, and an independent investigation by the International Criminal Court.
It also urged the international community to press for the release of detained health care workers and the provision of medical supplies to sustain the remaining infrastructure.
The attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital is a "heinous violation of human rights," it said, adding that such actions contribute to "an ongoing crime of genocide against the civilian population of Gaza."
On Friday, Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, located in the northern town of Beit Lahia, burning large sections of the medical facility and forcing patients and displaced civilians to flee.
Israel has killed more than 45,500 people in Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 and reduced the enclave to rubble.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
