Investigate Israel for 'war crimes' - Human Rights Watch

RT
Tue, 14 Nov 2023 19:16 UTC

© Ahmed Zakot/Getty Images

Palestinians pray • Nasser Hospital • Khan Yunis, southern Gaza

Deliberate attacks on hospitals and ambulances in Gaza are an atrocity, the group said...

Israel's attacks on hospitals, ambulances and medical personnel in Gaza should be "investigated as war crimes," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday, urging the government in West Jerusalem to end such strikes immediately.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacks are "apparently unlawful" and are "further destroying" the healthcare system in Gaza, according to HRW. Even though Israel accused Hamas of "cynical use of hospitals," earlier this month, "no evidence put forward would justify depriving hospitals and ambulances of their protected status under international humanitarian law," the group added.

"The strikes on hospitals have killed hundreds of people and put many patients at grave risk because they're unable to receive proper medical care," said Dr. A. Kayum Ahmed, HRW's special adviser on the right to health, noting that the Gaza healthcare infrastructure was "already hard hit by an unlawful blockade."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 521 people - including 16 medical workers - have been killed in 137 "attacks on health care" in Gaza as of November 12. The UN has established that two-thirds of primary care facilities and half of all hospitals in the enclaves were "not functioning" as of November 10, while dealing with "unprecedented numbers of severely injured patients."

The total Palestinian death toll in the enclave has risen to 11,000 since October 7, when Israel declared war on Hamas in the aftermath of the Palestinian group's lethal incursion into nearby Israeli settlements that killed an estimated 1,200 people.

Israel has cut off Gaza's supply of water and electricity. Local hospitals are running out of medicine and basic equipment, with HRW hearing from doctors that they are using vinegar as an antiseptic.

"The Israeli government should immediately end unlawful attacks on hospitals, ambulances, and other civilian objects, as well as its total blockade of the Gaza Strip, which amounts to the war crime of collective punishment," HRW said, while calling on Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups "to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians under their control from the effects of attacks and not use civilians as 'human shields'."

The group urged an investigation into the IDF attacks on Gaza healthcare infrastructure, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) - which has jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories - to get involved as well.

Meanwhile, the US, UK, Canada, Germany and other countries should "suspend military assistance and arms sales" to Israel "as long as its forces continue to commit widespread, serious abuses amounting to war crimes against Palestinian civilians with impunity," the HRW said.

Comment: The Turks want ICC to charge Netanyahu with 'genocide':

Two Turkish lawyers and a former lawmaker have petitioned the government in Ankara to seek genocide and war crimes charges against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's conduct in Gaza. The request is expected to reach the International Criminal Court, which neither Türkiye nor Israel recognizes.

Metin Kulunk, a former member of parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), teamed up with attorneys Mucahit Birinci and Burak Bekiroglu and sent the 23-page lawsuit to the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday.

Kulunk wrote on X (formerly Twitter), accompanied by the cover page of the lawsuit:

"Today, representing the conscience of the citizens of the Republic of Türkiye, we filed a lawsuit at the International Criminal Court in The Hague against the 21st century Hitler, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who must stand trial for the genocide he committed in the Gaza Strip and all crimes against humanity."

Birinci posted on X:

"May God be with our Palestinian brothers and those who defend their just cause to the extent of their strength." Bekiroglu told TASS that the Istanbul office has already forwarded the case to the Turkish Justice Ministry and will send a hard copy to The Hague, where it should arrive "no later than next week."

The Turkish trio has joined a growing international push to prosecute the Israeli leader.

Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday that Israeli attacks on hospitals and other healthcare infrastructure in Gaza amount to war crimes and should be investigated by the ICC. Earlier this month, Algeria filed a case against Israel before the ICC, which Colombia joined. Three Palestinian human rights NGOs have done so as well.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of war crimes at a political rally last month, but has not followed through on those words. Türkiye cannot officially file lawsuits before the ICC, as it never ratified the Rome Statute that established the court. According to Turkish media, government bodies and NGOs can "inform the prosecutor's office" of crimes and ask for an investigation, however.

Israel had signed the Rome Statute but withdrew in 2022. The ICC has claimed jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank, however, as the UN considers them Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation since 1967.

So far, the ICC has been impotent. Should PM Netanyahu be charged with genocide, it should go back decades.