The UN accuses Israel of deliberately destroying health care in the Gaza Strip.

“Israel has adopted a policy of deliberately destroying the health system in the Gaza Strip,” says a soon-to-be-published UN report. “These actions amount to crimes against humanity.”

This became known on Thursday, October 10. The report itself will be published on October 30. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay made a statement ahead of the report's release. She accused Israel of “continuous and targeted attacks on medical personnel and medical facilities” during the war that erupted after the Oct. 7 massacre.

“Children, whose health has been directly or indirectly affected by the collapse of the health system,” Pillay said, have been particularly hard hit by these attacks. The report accused the IDF of deliberately killing medical personnel, attacking medical vehicles and restricting patients' permission to leave the besieged Gaza Strip. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than ten thousand patients requiring urgent medical evacuation have been unable to leave the Gaza Strip since the Rafah crossing towards Egypt was closed in May.

In contrast, Israel claims that Hamas militants operate from densely populated areas, including hospitals. And that the IDF will strike at them wherever they are.