Medical System in Gaza on Brink of Total Collapse, Says UN Rights Office

Israel's pattern of sustained attacks on Gaza's hospitals and medical workers has brought the strip's healthcare system to the brink of "total collapse", according to a report by the UN human rights office.

- Peter Beaumont

The report, which catalogues the besieging and targeting of hospitals and their immediate grounds with explosive weapons, the killing of hundreds of medical workers, and the destruction of critical life-saving equipment, said that in certain circumstances the attacks could "amount to war crimes". Israel has consistently denied committing war crimes in Gaza.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said the report's findings pointed to "blatant disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law".

"As if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe in fact became a death trap," Türk said.

While the Israeli military has repeatedly sought to justify its attacks on Gaza's hospitals, accusing armed groups including Hamas of using medical facilities as command posts, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said the evidence provided by Israel to back up its assertions had been "vague".