U.N. experts on Thursday condemned Israel's raid on a hospital in northern Gaza, urging an end to the "blatant assault" on health rights in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Reiterating their accusations of "genocide" against Israel – denied by the Israeli government – two independent U.N. rights experts expressed horror over the raid last Friday on Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last functioning major medical facility in northern Gaza.
"After more than a year of this genocide, Israel's blatant assault on the right to health in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories has reached unprecedented levels of impunity," the experts said in a joint statement.
The statement was issued by Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights situation in Palestinian territories, and Tlaleng Mofokeng, the special rapporteur on the right to health.
The Israeli military has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals as command centers, something Hamas denies.
The military "undertook every effort to protect civilians," the Israeli mission said, insisting its "actions highlight Israel's commitment to international law and the protection of civilian infrastructure, even under the most challenging circumstances."
Israel's military said it had detained more than 240, including the hospital's director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, describing him as a suspected Hamas member.
In their statement, Albanese and Mofokeng said they were "gravely concerned" at Safiyeh's detention and demanded his "immediate release."
"Yet another doctor to be harassed, kidnapped and arbitrarily detained by the occupation forces," they said.
"This is part of a pattern by Israel to continuously bombard, destroy and fully annihilate the realization of the right to health in Gaza."
U.N. special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the world body.
The experts also highlighted "disturbing reports" that Israeli forces had allegedly carried out extrajudicial executions of some people near the hospitals, including a Palestinian man reportedly holding a white flag.
They pointed to figures provided by the health ministry in Hamas-led Gaza indicating that at least 1,057 Palestinian health and medical professionals have been killed since the war erupted following the Palestinian group's Oct. 7, 2023, incursion on southern Israel.
The World Health Organization has repeatedly denounced the high number of attacks on healthcare staff and facilities in the war: 1,273 attacks on healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank have been recorded since the start of the war.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on X that the pace of desperately needed medical evacuations out of Gaza was "excruciatingly slow."
"Only 5,383 patients have been evacuated with support from WHO since October 2023, of which only 436 since the Rafah crossing was closed" last May, he said.
He said more than 12,000 people were awaiting medical evacuation from Gaza.
"At this rate, it would take 5-10 years to evacuate all these critically ill patients, including thousands of children," he added.
"In the meantime, their conditions get worse and some die."
