UN: Israeli attacks on medical facilities are war crimes
A UN report released Oct. 11 documented Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities and medical personnel in the Gaza Strip in violation of international human rights law, calling the attacks war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report—written by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel—also condemned Israeli treatment of detainees, citing instances of abuse, torture, sexual assault, and arbitrary detention.
Citing the World Health Organization, the report states that between Oct. 7, 2023 and July 30, 2024, Israel engaged in "498 attacks on health care facilities in the Gaza Strip," with 747 people killed, 969 injured, and 110 facilities affected. The report acknowledged Israel's justification that the raids and air-strikes were in response to alleged Hamas use of medical facilities for military purposes, but charged that Israel had not provided evidence to substantiate the claims. Following interviews with senior medical personnel at the hospitals, the Commission wrote that the personnel "denied that there was any military activity" at the facilities, and emphasized "that the hospitals' only role was to treat patients."
In an accompanying press release, the chair of the commission, Navi Pillay, implored Israel to cease the campaign against healthcare facilities in Gaza, stating: "By targeting healthcare facilities, Israel is targeting the right to health itself with significant long-term detrimental effects on the civilian population."
The report also dedicated substantial attention to the treatment of Palestinian detainees. Between October 2023 and July 2024, a total of 14,000 Palestinians were arrested, "including journalists, human rights defenders, medical staffs, patients, United Nations staff and relatives of suspects." Alleged mistreatment of detainees included being stripped and transported naked, beatings, sexual assaults, religious slurs, and death threats.
The commission acknowledged reports of poor treatment and ill conditions for the 251 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and condemned "war crimes of torture, inhuman or cruel treatment, [as well as] rape and sexual violence" committed by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. The commission pushed for the release of the remaining hostages while urging the state of Israel to cease the unlawful detention of Palestinians, and terminate attacks on medical facilities and personnel.
Israel attacked the report, calling it a "blatant attempt by the CoI [Commission of Inquiry] to delegitimize the very existence of the State of Israel and obstruct its right to protect its population, while covering up the crimes of terrorist organizations who not only seek Israel's destruction—but have openly demonstrated these intentions for the world to see."
The report comes just a few days after the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack and follows the launch of ballistic missiles on Israel from Iran after the death of an Iranian general and leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah in Israeli air-strikes. Fears of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon spilling out more widely across the Middle East have elicited humanitarian concerns and an announcement of an arms embargo on Israel from French President Emmanuel Macron.
From Jurist, Oct. 11. Used with permission.
See our last reports on Israeli strikes on hospitals, Israel's detention state, and accusations of genocide.
Lebanon death toll passes 1,300
Israeli air-strikes on central Beirut on Oct. 10 killed at least 22 people and injured over 100 others. Two members of the the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured when an Israeli tank opened fire at an observation tower at the mission's headquarters in the city of Naqoura on the same day. The attack was one of several by the Israeli military on the UN mission in recent days and has drawn international condemnation.
The overnight strikes in central Beirut were reportedly targeting a senior Hezbollah leader and hit densely populated residential areas that previously had not been bombed. A family of eight, including three children, who had fled Israel's bombardment of southern Lebanon were among the dead. Hezbollah, meanwhile, continued to launch rockets into Israel, injuring several people and killing two—the first civilian fatalities inside Israel since the Israeli military escalated its attacks on Lebanon in mid-September.
More than 1,300 people have been killed and nearly 4,000 wounded in Lebanon since Sept. 23, according to the country's health ministry. Around 1.2 million people (about one fifth of Lebanon's population) have been forcibly displaced from their homes. Several hundred thousand people—mostly Syrians who had sought refuge in Lebanon from their country's civil war—have crossed the border into Syria in recent weeks. (TNH)
The leaders of France, Italy, and Spain released a joint statement condemning the Israeli Defense Forces for "unjustifiable" attacks on United Nations peacekeepers. (Jurist)
Israel legislation to ban UNRWA operations
The EU on Oct. 12 expressed grave concern over draft legislation in the Israeli parliament that would ban the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating within Israel and potentially restrict aid to Gaza. The proposed bills, if enacted, would abrogate the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA, terminating the agency's operations in Israel and East Jerusalem.
On Oct. 6, the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved two bills aimed at halting UNRWA's activities in Israel. The first would prohibit UNRWA from providing services, or conducting any activities, within Israel. The second declares that the 1967 treaty with UNRWA void upon the Knesset's final approval and revokes immunities granted to UNRWA staff.
In response, the EU High Representative argued that by halting UNRWA's life-saving operations in Gaza, the bills seriously hamper provision of health, education and social services in West Bank, describing UNRWA's work in the area as "a pillar of regional stability."
In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed profound concern, warning that the draft legislation would be "catastrophic," ending coordination to protect UN facilities serving hundreds of thousands of people. He emphasized UNRWA's extensive operations, including nearly 400 schools and 65 medical centers in the West Bank and Gaza, serving over 350,000 children and supporting a significant portion of Gaza's population. He cautioned that legislation severing ties between a UN member state and a UN agency would be a "very worrisome development" and indicated he would raise the issue with the UN General Assembly if the bills pass.
Guterres added that such legislation would violate Israel’s international obligations and hinder peace efforts. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates similarly condemned the Knesset's actions as a "blatant attack" on the UN. In another statement, the ministry viewed the move as part of Israel's broader campaign against Palestinian rights, particularly the right of return as outlined in UN Resolution 194.
The proposed legislation comes amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which Guterres described as entering "an atrocious, abominable second year." He highlighted the intensification of Israeli military operations in northern Gaza and the forced movement of approximately 400,000 people into overcrowded areas in the south. (Jurist)
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq stated in a briefing Oct. 11 that "aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months. No one has received food parcels in this month due to constrained access of aid supplies."
The UN reported that bakeries are shutting all around the Palestinian-occupied territory in Gaza as bakers cannot secure wheat flour, and World Food Program kitchens have been forced to shut down due to the war. Haq nonetheless said that international organizations are doing their best to maintain humanitarian aid in Gaza. Specifically, UNRWA is "distributing bread, ready-to-eat or cooked meals, as well as flour, in and beyond designated shelters."
Haq's statement was made a month after a UN report on the right to food by Michael Fakhri, who declared that Palestinians are starving due to a campaign by Israel, was released. Israel employs "blockades, water deprivation, food system destruction and the general destruction of civil infrastructure" as methods of enforcing starvation, according to Fakhri. He said this reflects Israel's "fundamental abandonment of its human rights obligations," and that starvation is being used as a tool of "genocide, extermination, and torture." (Jurist)
UNRWA has been targeted in Israeli miitary operations repeatedly, accusing the agency of ties to Hamas.
US threatens to curb arms supply to Israel
The White House has warned Israel it has one month to implement significant improvements to the humanitarian situation in Gaza or jeopardize the continued supply of US weapons, noting that humanitarian assistance entering the Strip has plummeted in recent months.
In an Oct. 13 letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, obtained by The Times of Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin lamented that the past several months have seen a significant deterioration in the amount of aid entering Gaza.
The top US officials said such developments call into question Israel's commitment to not restrict the entry of aid into Gaza and that it is using US weapons in line with international law. That written commitment was provided last March in order to ensure Israel’s compliance with a National Security Memorandum issued by Biden in February. The memo applies to all recipients of US security assistance. (ToI)
A partial "pause" on some arms shipments remains in place. However, the US has continued to provide high-powered munitions, as well as facilitating arms transfers from oter countries.