Two UN rapporteurs call for an end to Israeli violations of the health sector in Gaza

Two UN rapporteurs called on the international community to end ignoring the blatant Israeli violations of the health sector in the Gaza Strip and the health rights of its residents, especially after its storming of Kamal Adwan Hospital last week and its arbitrary detention of the hospital director.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to the enjoyment of the highest standards of physical and mental health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, warned, in a joint statement yesterday, that the blatant attack launched by Israel on the right to health in… Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, more than a year after genocide, represent new levels of impunity.

The joint statement expressed the Special Rapporteurs’ alarm at reports coming from northern Gaza, including attacks on health care workers.

The two rapporteurs urged Israel to end its current attack on Gaza, stop its attacks on medical facilities, and work to release all arbitrarily detained health workers.

On another level, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed in a press statement that the Israeli forces recently distributed new evacuation orders for large areas in the northern Gaza and Deir al-Balah governorates and moved to the Al-Mawasi area, stressing that the Israeli forces then worked to bomb the Al-Mawasi area. Residents were ordered to move to and reside there, and warned that all civilians in Gaza are not safe anywhere in the Strip.

The statement also warned that every day that passes for the residents of Gaza without reaching a ceasefire brings more tragedies for them, especially since more than 80% of the Gaza Strip is currently subject to Israeli evacuation orders.

He stressed that Israeli forces are still hampering the ability of humanitarian agencies to support those in need of assistance throughout Gaza, noting that the Israeli authorities have rejected 39% of United Nations attempts to transfer relief workers anywhere in the Strip.
WAM/WAM Correspondent – United States of America