Israel in the lens for destroying the healthcare system in Gaza news from the world

The Israeli prime minister's office and his foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel says militants in Gaza are operating from the cover of built-up residential areas, including private homes, schools and hospitals, and will attack them wherever they appear while trying to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas has denied hiding fighters, weapons and command positions among civilians.

The UN statement on the investigation also accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing and torturing medical workers, attacking medical vehicles and obstructing patients from leaving the besieged Gaza Strip.

The World Health Organization says more than 10,000 patients requiring urgent treatment have been prevented from leaving Gaza since the Rafah border with Egypt was closed in May. The Palestinian health ministry said nearly 1,000 doctors were killed in Gaza last year, in what the WHO called an “irreversible loss and a huge blow to the health care system.”

In cases where Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of four hospitals, the investigation found that the orders were “impossible” because they did not give doctors time to evacuate hundreds of patients and Israeli forces failed to help them.

It also said it was investigating the treatment of both Palestinian prisoners in Israel and hostages held by Hamas militants during the October 7 attack, and accused both sides of torture and sexual violence.

The commission of inquiry has broad powers to gather evidence and identify suspected perpetrators of international crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. It bases its findings on a variety of sources, including interviews with victims and witnesses, testimonies and satellite imagery.

The commission has previously alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war and that Israel's actions also constituted crimes against humanity, causing massive civilian losses. This term is reserved for the most serious international crimes committed knowingly as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.

Israel has not cooperated with the investigation, which it says has an anti-Israel bias. The commission accused Israel of obstructing its work and preventing investigators from entering Israeli and Palestinian territories.

Sometimes evidence collected by UN-led agencies forms the basis for war crimes prosecutions and may be used by the International Criminal Court.

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