Israel slams UN probe on deliberate attacks to destroy Gaza’s health system

Israel has accused the investigators of bias after concluding a UN&nbsp investigation into how it had purposefully attempted to undermine the Gaza Strip’s healthcare system.

Israel “perpetrated a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system,” according to a report released by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI).

The nation was “committeding war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities,” according to the statement.

In a statement from its mission in Geneva, Israel on Friday firmly rejected the allegations.

The CoI’s most recent report is yet another blatant attempt to delegitimize the State of Israel and obstruct its legitimate right to defend its citizens while concealing the crimes of terrorist organizations, according to the statement.

Hamas, a Palestinian-backed group, claims that it uses hospitals for military purposes. The Gazan healthcare system is already flooded with patients and infrastructure destroyed, so Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked it.

The Israeli statement reads, “This report shamelessly portrays Israel’s actions in Gaza’s terror-infested health facilities as a matter of policy against the health system there.”

Israel also rejected the report’s findings, which claim that Palestinian prisoners are repeatedly and consistently abused, a crime against humanity and a war crime.

Numerous UN officials and reports claim that Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians during its war in Gaza and has been accused of conducting numerous torture operations. Additionally, they allege that there have been reports of numerous instances of sexual abuse of prisoners who have been imprisoned in secret and abused by both men and women.

Yet, Israel accused the commission of creating an “alternate reality”, and thereby contributing to “the exacerbation of this conflict”.

We urge states to speak out against this prejudiced approach, which will only strengthen the United Nations and the Human Rights Council’s standing.

The three-person commission’s release of the report follows the Hamas-led October 7 attack that sparked the current conflict, which was the first one since. The UN Human Rights Council established the commission in May 2021 to look into alleged violations of international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“International order crumbling”

UN special rapporteurs warned in a joint statement on Friday that the “international legal order is crumbling in the occupied Palestinian territory as a result of these atrocities.”

The group of experts said, “The world is in the most profound crisis since World War II,” adding that the group’s findings “have led to widespread genocidal attacks, ethnic cleansing, and collective punishment of Palestinians, which pose a risk to the international multilateral system.”

The legal strategies in use to resolve the issue have so far failed to produce the desired outcomes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other figures connected to the Gaza war are still in the international criminal court’s (ICC) prosecution’s) custody, but provisional measures to stop genocidal acts in Gaza have not been implemented.

Israel continues to act with blatant disregard for international law and order in response to the overwhelming public opinion in the international community, according to the statement.

The inability to put an end to Israel’s aggression in Gaza “not only allowed for the continuation of unprecedented brutality but also extended it to the entire region, igniting Lebanon with violence and destruction.”

Source: Aljazeera