UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said that carrying out hostilities “with the knowledge that they will systematically destroy and damage civilian housing and infrastructure, rendering an entire city – such as Gaza city - uninhabitable for civilians is a war crime”
Image via the Palestinian People's Party
As the indiscriminate, relentless Israeli bombing of Gaza continues -- now having killed at least 10,569, including 4,324 children, 2,823 women and 649 elderly people -- the UN released a statement noting that as "many as a third of all buildings in northern Gaza have reportedly been destroyed or damaged, and a UN-appointed independent rights expert warned on Wednesday that systematic or widespread bombardment of housing, civilian objects and infrastructure are strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law, criminal law and human rights law."
"Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said that carrying out hostilities “with the knowledge that they will systematically destroy and damage civilian housing and infrastructure, rendering an entire city – such as Gaza city - uninhabitable for civilians is a war crime”."
Mourning the loss of their colleague Mohammed Al Ahel, who was killed along with several members of his family on November 6, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) stated that he "was at his home in Al Shate Refugee Camp when the area was bombed and his building collapsed, reportedly killing dozens of people.
It is clear that no place in Gaza is safe from brutal and indiscriminate bombing."
A spokesperson for the Gaza Ministry of Health said Wednesday that they had received 2,550 reports of missing persons, including 1,350 children, who are still under the rubble since the attacks.
They also reported increased targeting of health workers, resulting in the death of 193 health workers and the destruction of 45 ambulances. 120 health institutions have been targeted and 18 hospitals and 40 health centres put out of service due to deliberate shelling and running out of fuel. Hospitals are currently working on secondary generators to operate intensive care, operating rooms, emergency departments only, and the rest of the hospitals are without electricity.
"We are trying to run the dialysis service for some time to save the lives of patients with kidney failure," the health ministry said.
As Israel's murderous attacks continue to target civilian infrastructure like hospitals, schools, refugee centres and mosques -- with Israel using the propaganda justification that these are being used by Hamas fighters -- Al Jazeera has debunked Israel’s claim Sunday that a Hamas tunnel is under the Qatari-funded Sheikh Hamad Hospital in northern Gaza.
The chairman of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, said Israel’s allegation was a “blatant attempt to justify the occupation’s targeting of civilian facilities, including hospitals, schools, gatherings of population and shelters of displaced people”.
