The World Health Organization (WHO) has renewed calls for an end to attacks on healthcare facilities and workers in the wake of further such Israeli Defence Force attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.
In a statement on 15 October, the WHO said it had verified 23 attacks on healthcare in Lebanon that had led to 72 deaths and 43 injuries among health workers and patients since hostilities between Israel and Lebanon escalated one month ago.
“Hospitals in Lebanon are already under massive strain as they strive to sustain essential health services while dealing with an unprecedented influx of injured people,” said the statement.
“Understaffed and under-resourced, the health system has been struggling to maintain uninterrupted services to all those in need with supplies being depleted and health workers exhausted.”
Increasing conflict, intense bombardment and insecurity are forcing a growing number of health facilities to shut down, particularly in the south of Lebanon. Out of 207 primary healthcare centres and dispensaries in conflict-affected areas, 100 are now closed, according to the WHO.
Hospitals have had to close or evacuate due to structural damage or their proximity to areas of intense bombardment. As of 15 October, five hospitals had been evacuated and another five partially evacuated, with critical cancer and dialysis patients referred to other hospitals also overwhelmed by increasing health needs.
The statement called for an end to attacks on healthcare, saying “peace is the only solution”.
“The situation in Lebanon is alarming. Attacks on healthcare debilitate health systems and impede their ability to continue to perform. They also prevent entire communities from accessing health services when they need them the most,” said Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
“WHO is working tirelessly with the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon to address critical gaps and support the continuity of essential health services, but what people of Lebanon need most is an immediate ceasefire.”
Israeli attacks on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have been widely condemned.
Atrocity in Gaza
Meanwhile, more than 30 humanitarian charities in the United Kingdom, including Oxfam GB, have issued a joint statement demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to Israel’s illegal occupation, and urged other states to stop the transfer of all weapons, parts and ammunition that could be used to commit further violations of international humanitarian law.
“The Israeli forces’ assault on Gaza has escalated to a horrifying level of atrocity,” said the statement.
“Northern Gaza is being wiped off the map. Under the guise of ‘evacuation’, Israeli forces have ordered the forced displacement of an estimated 400,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza, including Gaza City.
“This is not an evacuation – this is forced displacement under gunfire. Since 1 October, no food has been allowed into the area, and civilians are being starved and bombed in their homes and their tents.
“Hospitals, already overwhelmed, are being ordered to evacuate. They are running out of fuel and essential supplies, while doctors and nurses battle to save lives with what little they have left. The wounded flood in – children, older people, victims of Israeli airstrikes – but with no resources to treat them.”
Commercial determinants
Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, has called for submissions to an inquiry examining the involvement of business enterprises “in the commission of international crimes connected to Israel’s unlawful occupation, racial segregation and apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory”.
The types of businesses involved may include financial institutions such as banks, pension funds, insurance companies, universities, as well as private military and security companies and weapons manufacturers, she said.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes contributions from States and other authorities, national human rights institutions, NGOs and human rights defenders, business enterprises, unions, academics, UN agencies and other stakeholders. More information is here, with submissions due by 30 November.
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