The UN Security Council held on Friday an emergency session on 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.

Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered a briefing via video conference, expressing grave concerns over Israel's ongoing military actions in Gaza. He emphasized that these actions have had a devastating impact on Gaza's hospitals and healthcare infrastructure. Türk stated, "A human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world. Israel’s means and methods of warfare have killed tens of thousands of people, inflicted vast displacement, and laid waste to the territory. This has raised utmost concerns about compliance with international law."

Türk highlighted a recent report from his office, covering the period between October 7, 2023, and June 30, 2024, which documented patterns of attacks on hospitals. These attacks included Israeli airstrikes, ground troop raids, detentions of patients and staff, and forced evacuations, rendering hospitals non-functional. The report also detailed the killings of patients, staff, and other civilians. Türk underscored that intentionally directing attacks against hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are treated, provided they are not military objectives, constitutes a war crime. He added that, under certain circumstances, the deliberate destruction of healthcare facilities may amount to collective punishment, which would also constitute a war crime. If committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population, such acts may also amount to crimes against humanity.

Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative for the West Bank and Gaza, also briefed the Council, highlighting the dire health crisis in Gaza. He noted that seven percent of the population has been killed or injured since October 2023, with over 25 percent of the more than 105,000 injured civilians facing life-changing conditions. Peeperkorn warned that critical medical evacuations remain extremely slow, with over 12,000 people still waiting for treatment abroad. At the current rate, it would take five to ten years to evacuate all these critically ill patients.

Algerian Ambassador Amar Benjama condemned what he described as a "clear and alarming objective" of "pushing the Palestinian population out of their land through an obvious and deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing." He emphasized the systematic demolition of the healthcare system, noting that 53 percent of hospitals in Gaza are no longer operational and several physicians have died in Israeli custody. Benjama called for full accountability for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Gaza and urged the Security Council to take decisive action, including demanding a permanent ceasefire.

The emergency session underscored the urgent need for immediate action to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with calls for the protection of healthcare facilities, the release of detainees, and the facilitation of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population. (ILKHA)