A UN inquiry has accused Israel of carrying out a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system in actions that amount to war crimes and “extermination”.
Navi Pillay, a former UN high commissioner for human rights who is chairing the inquiry, said Israel has carried out “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” in the past year.
Ms Pillay will present a full report on the matter to the UN General Assembly on 30 October.
Middle East latest: Beirut hit by new strike
In a statement ahead of its release, she said: “Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system.”
The UN inquiry’s statement also accused Israeli forces of targeting medical vehicles, deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, and restricting permits for patients to leave the Gaza Strip.
As an example, it cited the death of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who died in February along with six members of her family as they tried to flee fighting in Gaza.
Two medics were also killed as they tried to rescue them.
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), told Sky News that in her mind the deaths were not an accident.
She said: “We do not dispatch our ambulances to areas where it is considered a military area… if we get calls from these areas, we try to coordinate our safe access.”
In a statement to Sky News, the IDF said it has carried out a “preliminary inspection” into the incident and it “appears that IDF forces were not present near the vehicle or within the firing range of the described vehicle in which the girl was found”.
The IDF has repeatedly claimed Hamas militants operate from the cover of built-up areas – including around schools and hospitals – and says it will strike them when they emerge while trying to avoid harming civilians.
Hamas has denied hiding militants and command posts among civilians.
The UN inquiry’s statement comes after 27 people, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza, according to Palestinian medics.
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The aftermath of the school strike. Pic: Reuters
The strike, which also wounded many more, happened in the city of Deir al Balah, where upwards of a million people have taken shelter.
Israeli military said it carried out a “precise” strike targeting a militant command inside the school, without providing evidence.
More than 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its offensive in the region following Hamas’s attack on October 7 last year, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Israel’s prime minister’s office and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment, when asked by the news agency, Reuters.
‘Deep concern’ over Lebanon attacks
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Smoke rises from UNIFIL headquarters in Lebanon
Israel has also continued its strikes in Lebanon, where it is involved in military operations against the militant group Hezbollah.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, 18 people were killed and 92 wounded after Israeli strikes on the capital Beirut this evening.
Meanwhile, the UN said earlier today that two of its peacekeepers have been injured after an Israeli tank fired at one of its observation towers.
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that Israeli forces have “repeatedly hit” UN positions in the last 24 hours.
“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” it said.
The French foreign ministry has shared “deep concern” over the incident, while Italy’s defence minister Guido Crosetto said: “It could constitute a war crime and represented a very serious violation of international military law.”
The IDF claimed in a statement issued today: “The Hezbollah terrorist organisation operates from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near UNIFIL posts.”