On Friday, Israel vehemently rejected a UN probe’s findings, which concluded that the nation is deliberately trying to dismantle healthcare in the Gaza Strip and mistreating Palestinian detainees. The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry accused Israel of implementing a “concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system.”
In its report, released Thursday, the commission stated that Israel is “committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination through relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities.”
Israel’s mission in Geneva firmly dismissed the allegations, labeling the report as “outrageous.” It claimed that the findings aim to delegitimize Israel’s existence and hinder its right to protect its population, while simultaneously covering for terrorist organizations.
“This report shamelessly portrays Israel’s operations in terror-infested health facilities in Gaza as a matter of policy against Gaza’s health system, while entirely dismissing overwhelming evidence that medical facilities in Gaza have been systematically used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad for terrorist activities,” the statement read.
The Israeli mission also denied accusations of widespread abuse of Palestinian detainees, asserting its commitment to international legal standards regarding their treatment, which includes prohibitions against excessive force and ill-treatment.
It accused the commission of creating an “alternate reality” that exacerbates the ongoing conflict. The Israeli government urged states to speak out against what it called a prejudiced approach, stating that such reports only tarnish the credibility of the Human Rights Council and the UN as a whole.
The three-member commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories. This report is the second published since Hamas’s October 7 attack last year, which triggered the current conflict.
Following the attack by Hamas militants, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, Israel launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip. According to the health ministry in Gaza, over 42,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory offensive, a figure the UN has described as reliable.
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