GENEVA, 10th October, 2024 (WAM) -- A United Nations inquiry said on Thursday it found that Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza's healthcare system in the Gaza war, actions amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination.
A statement by ex-U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay released ahead of a full report accused Israel of "relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities.
Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system," said Pillay, whose report will be presented to the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 30, according to Reuters.
The U.N. inquiry's statement also accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting medical vehicles and restricting permits for patients to leave the besieged Gaza Strip.
The statement said the treatment of both Palestinian detainees in Israel and hostages seized by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack had been investigated and it accused both sides of involvement in torture and sexual violence.
The Commission of Inquiry has a broad mandate to collect evidence and identify suspected perpetrators of international crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. It bases its findings on a range of sources including interviews with victims and witnesses, submissions and satellite imagery.