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OPT/Gaza Strip: Israeli attacks and the right to health

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oPt
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IFHHRO
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Referring to the humanitarian crisis following the Israeli army's attacks on Gaza, IFHHRO member Physicians for Human Rights-Israel shared that most Palestinians were not aware of the brief cease fire on Wednesday 7 January and therefore could not take advantage of it, e.g., by evacuating wounded relatives and purchasing essential goods. PHR-Israel called upon the Israeli army to inform all Palestinians, in any form, whether by loudspeakers or any other way, of the planned pause. The shooting did stop, but there were not enough teams or enough coordination mechanisms in place to evacuate all those who needed evacuation. Moreover, free movement was not enabled in all parts of the Gaza Strip, resulting in continuing difficulties in evacuation.

IFHHRO, like its members Physicians for Human Rigts-Israel and Palestinian Physicians for Human Rights, is extremely concerned about the violations of the right to health (care) in the Gaza Strip resulting from the continued violence. Not only do inhabitants of the Strip fail to reach health services and medical staff to reach the wounded, there are also reports of attacks on medical personnel and medical facilities. A testimony collected by PHR-Israel states the following: "Yesterday at 13:00 the driver and I set out to transfer urgent medical supplies by ICRC truck to Khan Younis. Our exit was pre-coordinated with the Israeli army and the truck is clearly marked with the ICRC symbols. When we reached Netzarim Junction [on the main north-south road in Gaza - PHR-Israel], a tank shot at us from its machine gun. I could see the tank clearly. The bullets hit the ground 15 meters away from us. Afterwards we were also shot at from the air. We backed up some 100 meters and then the tank shot again. We went back to the office and after an hour we set out again, but we were shot at again in the Netzarim area. In the end we didn't transfer the medical supplies." (testimony by Muhammad Ramadan of the International Committee of the Red Cross, 7.1.09)

In the night of Sunday 4 January, the A-Raeiya Medical Center and its mobile clinics were airstriked. This medical center, located near Shifaa hospital in Gaza City, in the center of a residential area, was opened four years ago. There are no governmental or military installations in its vicinity. At 1 am both the center and the vehicles were bombed from the air. The Israeli human rights organization Btselem has collected the testimony from the head of the executive committee of the medical center, Raed Sabah, who said: "The center is well known, and everybody knows it only provides medical services. It admits more than 100 patients per day, and bears flags with medical symbols. No warning was received before the air strike". The damage to the center is estimated at 800 thousand dollars. The three mobile clinics of the center were completely destroyed.

Based on information collected by PHR-Israel, an attorney wrote a petition and submitted it to the Israeli High Court on 6 January 2009 on behalf of several Israeli human rights organisations. The petition aims to stop targeting medical personnel and ambulances and to enable evacuation of wounded people within Gaza.

In the meantime, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and other health and human rights organisations in Israel and Palestine keep on collecting evidence and testimonies on the infringement of the right to health of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. More information and testimonies can be found on the PHR-Israel website: http://www.phr.org.il/phr/