{"id":50744,"date":"2024-12-30T16:52:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T00:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=50744"},"modified":"2024-12-30T16:52:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T00:52:18","slug":"un-expert-urges-medical-world-to-cut-ties-with-israel-amid-attacks-on-gaza-hospitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/30\/un-expert-urges-medical-world-to-cut-ties-with-israel-amid-attacks-on-gaza-hospitals\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Expert Urges Medical World to Cut Ties With Israel Amid Attacks on Gaza Hospitals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As Israeli forces stand accused of war crimes during attacks on multiple <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/gaza\">Gaza<\/a> hospitals in recent days, Francesca Albanese \u2013 the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories \u2013 on Monday implored the global medical community to respond by cutting ties with <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/israel\">Israel. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a concrete way to forcefully denounce Israel&#8217;s full destruction of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide,&#8221; Albanese <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/franceskalbs\/status\/1873704350054244701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a concrete way to forcefully denounce Israel&#39;s full destruction of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeDrHussanAbuSafiya?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeDrHussanAbuSafiya<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qzZ7CqufI6\">https:\/\/t.co\/qzZ7CqufI6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FranceskAlbs\/status\/1873704350054244701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Albanese amplified a post by Dr. Rupa Marya \u2013 one of the <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2024\/11\/19\/ucsf-medical-palestine-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most vocal defenders<\/a> of Palestinian human rights in the U.S. medical community \u2013 calling on Israeli forces to release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Abu Safiya, who documented Israel&#8217;s siege and attack on Kamal Adwan and who <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/kamal-adwan-attack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> last week that nearly 50 people including five hospital staff members were killed by an Israel Defense Forces airstrike on a nearby apartment tower, was among dozens of other medical staffers <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/gaza-hospital-director\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">abducted<\/a> by IDF troops on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>After besieging and attacking the hospital for weeks, Israeli forces <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/gaza-hospital-director\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">raided<\/a> the facility and <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/israel-detains-medics-after-hospital-raid-health-officials-say-2024-12-28\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rounded up<\/a> 240 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel claimed without evidence that Kamal Adwan was being used as a Hamas command center. With the facility shut down and badly damaged, critical patients and their caregivers were forced to evacuate to the nearby Indonesian Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor on Saturday <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/euromedmonitor.org\/en\/article\/6581\/Kamal-Adwan-Hospital-attack:-harrowing-testimonies-of-field-executions,-sexual-harassment-by-the-Israeli-army-in-northern-Gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published<\/a> accounts from witnesses to alleged IDF war crimes during the Kamal Adwan raid, including &#8220;deliberate killings, field executions, as well as sexual and physical assaults on women and girls from medical teams and displaced women in the area.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>CNN<\/em> <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/12\/29\/middleeast\/kamal-adwan-hospital-director-detained-hnk-intl\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> Monday that Abu Safiya is believed to be held at Sde Teiman, the notorious prison in Israel&#8217;s Negev Desert where dozens of detainees have died and former inmates <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/sde-teiman-torture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">say<\/a> many others have been tortured and raped. The IDF dubiously claimed that Abu Safiya is &#8220;suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dr Sufiya is the kind if man Steven Spielberg would make a movie about and he\u2019d become an American hero if we lived in a world with even a baseline level of moral consistency <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qTkZn4mBPR\">https:\/\/t.co\/qTkZn4mBPR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ryangrim\/status\/1873526976230862929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, Israeli forces also attacked al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza City, killing seven people, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/seven-killed-israeli-strike-hospital-gaza-palestinian-civil-defence-says-2024-12-29\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> Gaza Civil Defense officials. Israel said the strike targeted Hamas militants, without providing further information. <em>Anadolu <\/em>also <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/middle-east\/israeli-army-damages-baptist-hospital-in-gaza\/3437123\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> an IDF artillery attack on the Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\/item\/28-12-2024-kamal-adwan-hospital-out-of-service-following-a-raid-today-and-repeated-attacks-since-october\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> it was &#8220;appalled&#8221; by the Kamal Adwan raid and called out the &#8220;systematic dismantling of the health system&#8221; in Gaza by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n<p>WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus \u2013 who on Thursday survived a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/israel-strikes-yemen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deadly Israeli airstrike<\/a> on Sanaa International Airport in Yemen \u2013 on Sunday <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DrTedros\/status\/1873595575167283556\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">condemned<\/a> and demanded an end to IDF attacks on Gaza hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat,&#8221; Tedros said on X. &#8220;We repeat: Stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to healthcare. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Cease-fire!&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hospitals in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Gaza<\/a> have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat. <\/p>\n<p>Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Gaza<\/a> is out of service \u2014 following the raid, forced patient and staff evacuation and the detention of its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya two\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrTedros\/status\/1873595575167283556?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"rm-col-center col sm-mb-1\">\n<div class=\"widget__body clearfix sm-mt-1\">\n<div class=\"body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body css-listicle-body-2670701495\" data-headline=\"UN Expert Urges Medical World to Cut Ties With Israel Amid Attacks on Gaza Hospitals\">\n<div class=\"body-description\">\n<p>On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.icrc.org\/en\/news-release\/israel-and-occupied-territories-obliteration-health-care-system-northern-gaza-puts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> that &#8220;repeated hostilities in and around hospitals have obliterated the healthcare system in northern Gaza, putting civilians at an unacceptably grave risk of going without lifesaving care.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The influx of patients, caregivers, and displaced civilians seeking shelter creates a situation that medical personnel cannot solve,&#8221; ICRC continued. &#8220;The increasingly dangerous situation comes in addition to more than a year of insufficient provision of medical equipment and supplies, fuel, food, and specialized healthcare capacities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;ICRC reiterates its urgent call for the respect and protection of medical facilities in line with international humanitarian law,&#8221; the organization added. &#8220;This protection is a legal obligation and a moral imperative to preserve human life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a massive attack on Israel, at least 45,484 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, with nearly 120,000 others wounded or missing, according to local health officials. Israel&#8217;s &#8220;<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/israel-blockade-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">complete siege<\/a>&#8221; of Gaza has also forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened most of the enclave&#8217;s population. Gaza officials <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.palestinechronicle.com\/six-children-freeze-to-death-in-gaza-rainfall-worsens-conditions-for-displaced\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> five infants, a child, and a nurse have died due to cold temperatures and exposure in recent days.<\/p>\n<p>The International Court of Justice is currently weighing a genocide case against Israel <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/south-africa-icj-genocide-israel\" target=\"_self\">brought by South Africa<\/a> and supported by numerous other countries and rights groups.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/palestine\"> Palestine<\/a> defenders in the international medical community are planning a &#8220;call in sick from genocide&#8221; global day of action on January 6. Organizers are calling on members of healthcare worker unions to push for a strike, and for doctors and others to organize free clinics that day.<\/p>\n<p>Marya, a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco who is currently <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/mondoweiss.net\/2024\/12\/demand-the-reinstatement-of-dr-rupa-marya-at-uc-san-francisco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on paid suspension<\/a> after questioning whether an incoming student from Israel \u2013 where IDF service is near-universal \u2013 took part in war crimes in Gaza, posted Monday in support of the day of action.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is absolutely essential that when we see any entity, any group, destroying healthcare, and using the destruction of healthcare as a way to accelerate the annihilation of a people, as Israel is doing, it is absolutely urgent that the global medical community calls to stop this,&#8221; Marya told <em>Common Dreams<\/em> on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And we stop it through demanding an arms embargo, demanding unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza, and demanding the end to all institutional relationships between our medical institutions and Israeli institutions,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;What we need to do right now is to stop the normalization of genocide, enablement, and perpetration in our spaces of healthcare.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What we&#8217;re seeing is genocide&#8230; accelerated through targeting the people who are supposed to heal,&#8221; Marya added. &#8220;The healthcare system in Gaza has been targeted in order to accelerate the annihilation of the Palestinian people. And if the global healthcare community does not stand up right now, this will be the future of all wars.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It is time for the medical community worldwide to escalate for Gaza. What does this look like?<\/p>\n<p>+ Call in SICK FROM GENOCIDE 1\/6. Take a mental health sick leave because you are morally injured and burned out from 15 months of witnessing attacks to healthcare workers, children \ud83e\uddf5 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oUpxngrDIH\">pic.twitter.com\/oUpxngrDIH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rupa Marya, MD (@DrRupaMarya) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrRupaMarya\/status\/1873780614765437265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Marya, a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco who is currently <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/mondoweiss.net\/2024\/12\/demand-the-reinstatement-of-dr-rupa-marya-at-uc-san-francisco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on paid suspension<\/a> after questioning whether an incoming student from Israel \u2013 where IDF service is near-universal \u2013 took part in war crimes in Gaza, posted Monday in support of the day of action.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is absolutely essential that when we see any entity, any group, destroying healthcare, and using the destruction of healthcare as a way to accelerate the annihilation of a people, as Israel is doing, it is absolutely urgent that the global medical community calls to stop this,&#8221; Marya told <em>Common Dreams<\/em> on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And we stop it through demanding an arms embargo, demanding unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza, and demanding the end to all institutional relationships between our medical institutions and Israeli institutions,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;What we need to do right now is to stop the normalization of genocide, enablement, and perpetration in our spaces of healthcare.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What we&#8217;re seeing is genocide&#8230; accelerated through targeting the people who are supposed to heal,&#8221; Marya added. &#8220;The healthcare system in Gaza has been targeted in order to accelerate the annihilation of the Palestinian people. And if the global healthcare community does not stand up right now, this will be the future of all wars.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><i>Brett Wilkins is is staff writer for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/\">Common Dreams<\/a>. Based in San Francisco, his work covers issues of social justice, human rights and war and peace. This originally appeared at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/\">CommonDreams<\/a> and is reprinted with the author\u2019s permission.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Israeli forces stand accused of war crimes during attacks on multiple Gaza hospitals in recent days, Francesca Albanese \u2013 the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories \u2013 on Monday implored the global medical community to respond by cutting ties with Israel. &#8220;I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[806],"class_list":["post-50744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese condemned Israel's destruction of Gaza's healthcare system as \"a critical tool of its ongoing genocide.\""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50744"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50749,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50744\/revisions\/50749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50744"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=50744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}