NEW YORK: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has warned the international community of a "human-rights catastrophe continuing to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world."
Turk's remarks came during an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Friday regarding the collapse of health services in Gaza. The meeting was requested by Algeria, which has just taken over the UN Security Council presidency in January.
He noted that Israel's means and methods of warfare have killed tens of thousands of people and inflicted vast displacement and devastation across Gaza.
Citing a recent report by his Office, Turk highlighted a pattern of attacks on hospitals that begin with Israeli airstrikes and are followed by ground raids and the detention of patients and staff -- "leaving the hospital essentially non-functional".
"The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides, at all times," Turk emphasised.
He also highlighted the appalling destruction wrought by the Israeli military's attacks on the Kamal Adwan hospital last Friday -- the last functioning hospital in north Gaza -- reflects the pattern of attacks documented in the report. Staff and patients were forced to flee or were taken into custody, with many reports of torture and ill-treatment. The director of the hospital was taken into custody, and his fate and whereabouts are unknown.
Underscoring that military operations must always distinguish between military targets and civilians, he observed, "The use of heavy weapons against hospitals is difficult to reconcile with that principle."
He underscored that failure to respect any of these principles constitutes a breach of international humanitarian law, describing the deliberate destruction of hospitals and medical facilities as a form of collective punishment and a war crime.
The UN official called for independent, thorough and transparent investigations into all Israeli attacks on hospitals, healthcare infrastructure and medical personnel, as well as the alleged misuse of such facilities.