Iron Swords - Law - Targeting Hospitals
Intentionally targeting hospitals and medical personnel as a war strategy is a war crime. It is also illegal to attack ambulances, other medical facilities, or to interfere with their ability to provide care to the wounded and sick. The Geneva Conventions explicitly protect medical personnel, facilities, and transportation during armed conflicts. The First Geneva Convention states that medical units, such as hospitals and mobile medical facilities, may in no circumstances be attacked. According to humanitarian law, intentionally directing attacks against medical services in the context of an armed conflict is considered a war crime. It also falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
However, there are some exceptions to the rule:
- Article 19 allows a hospital to be protected if it defends itself or has some small arms and ammunition taken from the wounded.
- Article 28 of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV states that the presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.
- Rule 35 of International Humanitarian Law stipulates that “it is prohibited to direct an attack against an area established to shelter the wounded, sick and civilians and to protect them from the effects of fighting.” International humanitarian law also protects everyone inside the hospital, including civilians, wounded and sick, medical and religious workers, and humanitarian relief personnel, as they are all protected categories according to the rules of customary international law 1, 47, 25, 27 and 31, respectively.
But according to Article 13 of Additional Annex I of the Geneva Convention, which is part of international humanitarian law, this protection applies only on the condition that hospitals are not “used to commit acts harmful to the enemy, outside the scope of their humanitarian function.” Likewise, while Rule 25 of International Humanitarian Law and Article 2 of the Geneva Convention of 1864 prohibit attacks on medical personnel, they state that such protection requires the impartiality of medical personnel as they “lose their protection if committed acts harmful to the enemy, outside the scope of their humanitarian function.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross defines harmful acts as including “the use of a hospital as a shelter for healthy or fleeing combatants, as a weapons or ammunition depot, or as a military observation post.” This is what Israel tried to use to justify its attacks against the health sector in Gaza.
Attacking and destroying hospitals has always been a red line and a heinous crime under international humanitarian law , but critics claim Israel repeatedly crossed this line in front of the cameras. Since the beginning of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, the critics claim the IDF bombed Gaza's hospitals, ambulances, and medical teams, resulting in the martyrdom of hundreds of sick and wounded people and the destruction of the last means of life in Gaza.
The list of targeted hospitals included Al-Shifa Medical and Baptist Complex , Al-Quds, Al-Rantisi, Al-Indonesi, and Al-Awda, which are the main hospitals in Gaza. Israel also cut off electricity, water, and fuel to these health facilities, which constitutes a war crime by all standards. Israel's attacks contribute to drawing a new approach with terrifying dimensions of what a country can do within the hearing and sight of the international community.
The thinker and political analyst of Jewish origins, Norman Finkelstein, commented on this approach in a lecture at Georgetown University in Qatar, saying, “Israel, the Europeans, and the Americans legislated something that until this moment had been an absolute red line and actually forbidden in international politics. Other countries had attacked hospitals before, but their actions did not "Legitimacy is never given."
Human Rights Watch criticized the repeated attacks launched by Israeli military forces on medical facilities and personnel, noting that they are destroying the health care system in the Gaza Strip, and that they should be investigated as war crimes.
The World Health Organization reports that Israel has killed at least 521 people, including 16 medical workers, in 137 “attacks on health care” in Gaza as of November 12.
These attacks, and the accompanying cuts of electricity and water and the prevention of aid, forced medical personnel to deal with huge numbers of injured people in extremely complex circumstances, prompting many doctors to perform operations without anesthesia.
The Israeli side's justification for these attacks was the claim that fighters from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas ) were present in these hospitals, which was denied by doctors and officials. Israeli army’s claim that there was a Hamas base under the Shifa complex was unproven when it did not provide convincing evidence despite its occupation of the hospital.
At the time, MSF Director General Minnie Nicolai said, “The 24-hour ultimatum statement issued by the Israeli government, which states that the residents of northern Gaza must leave their lands, homes and hospitals, is infuriating and represents an attack on medical care and on humanity. We are talking "Here is about more than a million people."
He added that the phrase “unprecedented” does not even cover the humanitarian and medical impact of this matter, because “Gaza is being leveled, and thousands of people are dying. This must stop now. We strongly condemn the Israeli statement.”
Gaza is a major case worthy of study regarding how these laws are exploited, as they leave room for politicians and decision-makers to justify attacks on hospitals and medical teams. According to international law researchers Nicola Perugini from the University of Edinburgh and Neve Gordon from Queen Mary University, hospitals must be granted complete immunity against any attack, so that no party takes advantage of the exceptions contained in international humanitarian law.
This proposition is supported by the fact that when Israel attacks hospitals, it does not deny their medical necessity, but claims that they are also used to support and strengthen Hamas by being a refuge for them. In the case of Gaza, international silence, especially American and European silence, lends legitimacy to Israeli allegations, allowing it to continue bombing hospitals, according to many human rights activists.
On January 22, 2024 the United States called for Israel to protect civilians in hospitals as Israeli forces pressed ahead in its fight against Hamas militants in Gaza, carrying out airstrikes Monday in the territory's northern, central and southern regions. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that while Israel has a right to defend itself, "We expect them to do so in accordance with international law and to protect innocent people in hospitals, medical staff and patients as well, as much as possible." Reuters news agency reported that Israeli troops stormed a hospital in Al-Mawasi district, west of the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis. Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra told the news agency that Israeli forces arrested medical staff at the hospital.
Israel has blamed Hamas for putting civilians in danger, saying the militant group intentionally operates in and around hospitals and has created a network of tunnels underneath. Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, which governs Gaza, after the militant group sent fighters rampaging into Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies. Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and others, also took about 240 people hostage.
The World Health Organization announced 09 February 2024 that it had documented 721 attacks on health care facilities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including 357 in Gaza since October 7. The organization’s spokesman, Tariq Yasarevic, confirmed during a press conference held in Geneva, Switzerland, that “the United Nations organization has documented 721 attacks on health care facilities in the occupied Palestinian territories since last October 7.” He pointed out that among the attacks, “about 357 attacks targeted health care facilities in the Gaza Strip, killing 645 people and wounding 818 others.” Yasarevic explained that "the attacks affected 98 healthcare facilities, including 27 hospitals out of 36 that were damaged, and affected 90 ambulances" in the Gaza Strip.
The Director-General of the HAMAS Government Information Office in the Gaza Strip , Ismail Al-Thawabta, stated 18 February 2024 "the occupation army is focused and intentionally targeting the health sector, demolishing, destroying and burning 30 hospitals, putting 53 health centers completely out of service, and 150 institutions partially, arresting 99 doctors and health personnel, and destroying 123 ambulances."
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