GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday expressed concern over ongoing Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities in the Gaza Strip.
“A human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world,” Turk told a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.
Israel’s means and methods of warfare have killed tens of thousands of people, inflicted vast displacement and laid waste to the territory, he added.
“The destruction of hospitals across Gaza goes beyond depriving Palestinians of their right to access adequate health care. Those hospitals provided sanctuary for thousands of people with nowhere else to go,” Turk stressed.
Underlining that the UN repeatedly warned that Israel’s military operations in North Gaza place the entire Palestinian population at risk through death and displacement, Turk said Israeli military operations in and around hospitals and associated combat have had a “terrible impact” precisely at a time of massive demands on health care due to the ongoing conflict.
Turk also called for “independent, thorough and transparent” investigations into all Israeli attacks on hospitals, healthcare infrastructure and medical personnel, as well as the alleged misuse of such facilities.
“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 added.
The rights chief called on Israel to ensure and facilitate access to live-in humanitarian aid, including adequate health care for the Palestinian population, urging Israel to end its continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory “as rapidly as possible.”
Israel has killed more than 45,550 citizens, mostly women and children, in Gaza since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on Oct. 7, 2023.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Army 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.
