The Gaza Hospital strike draws new attention to the attacks of the Israeli medical facility

Israel drew the attention of Israel in a large hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday, in an attempt to kill senior Hamas leader, new attention to one of the most controversial issues in the war: Israeli attacks on medical facilities, and Hamas used such sites for military purposes.

The attack on the European Gaza Hospital complex was killed near Khan Yunis, at least six people, according to the medical authorities in Ghazan, and left many deep drilling in and around the hospital lands, according to a video filmed at the site and verified by the New York Times.

In a separate group of attacks, Israeli strikes Dozens of people were killed Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday in the north of Gaza overnight.

Even in a war that destroyed the health sector in Gaza, Israel rarely launched a strong attack on a health complex that affected the European Gaza Hospital on Tuesday.

The Israeli army said it was targeting the Hamas Command Center under the complex, and Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal the sensitive details that the specific goal is Muhammad Sinwar, a great Hamas leader.

Ayed Heat, the hospital director, said in an interview on the phone that the strikes-which he said were conducted without warning-had harmful to the walls and tubes, cut off the water supply, expelled the hospital from the service, and forced most of the 200 patients to evacuate. Dr. Al Hit denied that Hamas fighters were working inside the hospital complex, adding that he did not believe that the group had dug tunnels under it, although he could not finally exclude them.

For human rights activists and its international monitoring, the attacks on medical facilities have fueled accusations that Israel is being created against the Palestinians in Gaza, partly by destroying their health system.

By early May, the World Health Organization was Record 686 attacks on health facilities in Gaza since the beginning of the war. Those attacks have damaged at least 33 hospitals in Gaza 36 hospitals, according to the WHO, and at some point made at least 19 of them unclean; Five since then returned to service.

United Nations Investigation Committee conclude Last September, these attacks combined “a concerted policy to destroy the health care system in Gaza.”

For Israel and its defenders, who strongly deny the claim of genocide, such attacks are a legal and legal response to the use of enthusiasm for hospitals for military purposes. Israel says Hamas routinely uses hospitals, tunnels and shelters under it, as leadership centers, and weapons hiding places.

Hamas strongly denies this, but Israeli officials say that the group mainly turned the health sector in Gaza into a civilian shield for military activity.

The Israeli army said in A. mail On his website, which a speaker was martyred instead of commenting on this article. He added: “The infrastructure of terrorism in hospitals aims to ensure optimal protection for terrorists in Hamas during times of war.”

Interviews with Hamas members and Israeli soldiers working in Gaza, along with other evidence, I showed it Hamas has Use some medical facilities To hide the entrances that lead to the wide military tunnel network, weapons weapons and stations fighters. The Palestinians also reported the vision of Hamas fighters working in health facilities, whether in this war or in Previous conflicts.

In March, 2024, a group of militants took a last position Inside the Shiva, a main hospital in Gaza CityWhich leads to a long battle with the Israeli army.

Under international conflict rules, hospitals are protected sites that should only be attacked in rare circumstances. The use of the hospital for military purposes may make a legitimate target, but only if a danger to civilians is commensurate with the military advantage created by the attack. Moreover, the law It states that the attacking force should give a pre -warning against a hospital strike, which the Israeli army did not do before its strike at the European Gaza Hospital.

“If Hamas uses a hospital to protect a military leadership and control center, this is a violation of international humanitarian law, and this can mean in principle that the hospital loses its automatic protection from the attack,” said Lawrence Hill Keoutorn, an expert on armed conflict laws at the University of Bristol in England.

“But Israel is binding under the Fourth Geneva Convention to give a warning before the hospital is attacking to allow civilians to evacuate,” said Professor Hill Katuhn. “The attack will remain illegal if it causes unpaid civil damage.”

International law experts say that possible civil harm assessments should consider the impact of the strike on the broader health system in the region, instead of the damaged hospital only. In Gaza, where many health centers or out of use are damaged, making it difficult to find legal justification for attacks on hospitals, according to our Gianna del, an expert in armed conflict laws at Oxford University.

Professor del said: “I am having difficulty knowing what the expected military advantage can lead to any attack on a hospital in Gaza at the present time that is now appropriate.”

The Israeli army declined to comment on the absence of a warning before the strike at the European Gaza Hospital. An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition that his identity was not disclosed because he was not allowed to discuss the matter publicly, that the army assessed the legitimacy of the strike and concluded that he was acting according to international law.

Aaron Bokmanand ARIC TOLER and Sheikh Ahmed Al -Gharraf The reports contributed.