Health facilities and ambulances in Gaza, which are protected under international humanitarian law, have been repeatedly targeted by Israeli military attacks, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The international NGO has called for an investigation into these attacks, stating that they should be treated as war crimes. HRW has accused the Israeli military of causing further destruction to Gaza’s healthcare system at a time when medical professionals are overwhelmed with severely injured patients and hospitals are facing shortages of medicine and basic equipment.
Despite Israeli military claims that hospitals in Gaza are being cynically used by Hamas, HRW asserts that there is no evidence to justify depriving these facilities of their protected status under international humanitarian law. Committing war crimes entails serious violations of international humanitarian law, carried out with criminal intent. HRW has urged the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to thoroughly investigate Israel’s actions.
The United Nations reports that as of November 10, two-thirds of primary healthcare facilities and half of all hospitals in Gaza are not functioning. Additionally, the World Health Organization states that at least 521 people, including 16 medical workers, have been killed in 137 attacks on healthcare in Gaza as of November 12. A Kayum Ahmed, special adviser on the right to health at HRW, emphasizes that Israel’s repeated attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers, combined with the existing unlawful blockade, have devastated Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure. This situation puts many patients at grave risk, as they are unable to receive proper medical care.
HRW conducted investigations into attacks on or near five healthcare facilities in Gaza between October 7 and November 7. The organization found that the Israeli forces targeted the Indonesian Hospital multiple times, resulting in the deaths of at least two civilians. The International Eye Hospital was repeatedly struck and completely destroyed. The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital was forced to close following air raids on or near the facility. The al-Quds Hospital was subjected to repeated attacks, leading to injuries of a man and a child. Furthermore, Israeli forces targeted well-marked ambulances on multiple occasions, resulting in the deaths or injuries of at least a dozen people in one incident outside al-Shifa Hospital on November 3.
HRW highlights that these attacks are not isolated incidents. Israeli forces have carried out numerous strikes that have damaged several other hospitals across Gaza. The intentional directing of attacks against medical units and transport is considered a war crime under the ICC’s Rome Statute. Hospitals and other medical facilities are deemed civilian objects with special protections under international humanitarian law. They only lose their protection if they are being used for acts harmful to the enemy, and after a required warning.
Israel claims that Hamas fighters have established command centers beneath hospitals such as al-Shifa and the Indonesian Hospital. However, HRW states that it has not been able to verify these claims or find any information that would justify attacks on Gaza hospitals. HRW also criticizes the “sweeping nature” of Israel’s evacuation orders, as they fail to consider the specific requirements for hospitals and patients. The group argues that there is no secure way for civilians to flee or find a safe place in Gaza, raising concerns that the purpose of these orders is to terrify rather than protect civilians.
HRW calls for an immediate end to Israel’s unlawful attacks on hospitals, ambulances, and other civilian objects, as well as the total blockade of the Gaza Strip, which constitutes the war crime of collective punishment. The organization also urges Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups to take feasible precautions to protect civilians under their control.
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