The United Nations accused Israel of carrying out “systematic attacks” on hospitals as a British charity decried the killing of 500 health care workers since the war in Gaza began.
Israel retaliated following the Hamas militant group’s massacre of more than 1,000 people and the taking of Israeli hostages on October 7. The Israel Defense Forces have been waging a military campaign in Gaza which has so far killed more than 37,000 people.
“As of 25 June, 500 healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s military assault began in October. This equates to an average of two healthcare workers killed every day, with one in every 40 healthcare workers, or 2.5% of Gaza’s healthcare workforce, now dead,” said British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians in a statement Wednesday.
“More healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza since October than were reported killed in all conflicts globally in 2021 and 2022 combined,” according to the statement.
“These killings have occurred against the backdrop of systematic attacks on hospitals and other medical facilities in violation of the laws of war,” said the U.N. Human Rights Office in a statement Tuesday.
Israel has been at loggerheads with the U.N. for months, after the organization’s Secretary-General António Guterres said in October that Hamas’ attack “did not happen in a vacuum,” and accused Israel of carrying out “56 years of suffocating occupation.” Israel demanded Guterres’ ouster back in January.
Attacking hospitals is considered a war crime by the International Criminal Court, but they can lose their protected status under international law if used for military purposes. Israel has justified attacks on health care facilities on the basis of sometimes-disputed claims that Hamas is using them for various military reasons.
Tanya Haj-Hassan, a medical doctor who volunteered in a hospital with MAP in March, told the charity: “Palestinian health care workers have told me that when they leave the hospital, civilians give them civilian clothing because wearing scrubs is putting a target sticker on their back.”
The Israeli foreign media office didn’t immediately respond to a request from POLITICO for comment.
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