Rights group: IDF killed 16 medical workers during Gaza op

23/03/2009
By Amira Hass and Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1073191.html
Israel Defense Forces soldiers did not consider medical teams as entitled to receive the special protection granted to them within the framework of their duties during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights due to be released on Monday.  PHR quoted figures issued by the World Health Organization, which showed 16 Palestinian medical personnel were killed by Israeli fire during the offensive and that 25 were wounded while performing their duties.  It said Israel attacked 34 medical care facilities, including eight hospitals.  Advertisement The report also raises questions of whether IDF soldiers violated the IDF's own ethical code and basic humanitarian values, when they prevented treatment and the evacuation of the wounded and fired at emergency rescue teams and Palestinian medical facilities.  Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR) described alleged incidents that "reveal that not only did the [military] not evacuate besieged and wounded families, it also prevented Palestinian [medical] teams from reaching the wounded."  PHR's report followed accusations by other human rights groups and Palestinians that Israel's actions during the 22-day offensive in the Palestinian coastal enclave, controlled by the Islamist Hamas group, warranted war crimes investigations.  The Israel Defense Forces said the High Court had dismissed a petition PHR lodged on Jan. 19, a day after the offensive ended, and that the allegations were still being investigated.  "At the conclusion of the fighting, the claims were investigated by the [IDF] in a thorough manner, as were many other issues, in the framework of an expert investigation," the military said in a statement.  "The findings...have not yet been concluded. When they have been finalized, [they] will be presented to the public."  PHR described incidents in which it alleged that the IDF "did not allow the evacuation of injured civilians who were besieged for days at a time and left the civilians without food or water for considerable periods."  In its conclusion, PHR said "on the basis of earlier reports published by PHR-Israel, a dangerous and retrograde trend can be identified of an increasing disregard for the obligation to protect medical personnel during operations."  The Israeli military said its forces were instructed to "act with the utmost caution in order not to cause harm to medical vehicles and medical facilities".  It said Hamas fighters had "methodically made use of medical vehicles, facilities and uniforms in order to conceal and camouflage terrorist activity, and in general used ambulances to carry terror activists and weapons."  Last week, Gaza war veterans gave accounts of the killing of civilians and alleged that there was deep contempt for Palestinians among the ranks.  Defense Minister Ehud Barak responded to those accusations by repeating Israel's description of its forces as the most moral in the world. The military said its military advocate-general had ordered an investigation into the alleged incidents.  The Palestinian Center for Human Rights has put the Palestinian death toll during the offensive at 1,434 - 960 civilians, 235 fighters and 239 police. Israeli officials have disputed the figures.

 

Saúde e direitos humanos na Palestina - Médicos clamam por boicote à Israel

International medical community suggests"-- in view of the failure of other measures to influence those in power, serious consideration be given to targeted academic and trade boycotts [of Israel]--" From the lancet.com Published online January 9, 2009

Health and human rights in the Palestinian West Bank and GazaPalestine is split geographically into the West Bank and the Gaza strip. Gaza is the most densely populated area on earth: after first being crippled by blockade of its borders since 2007, Gaza is currently being bombed by the Israeli armed forces.1Unlike Gaza, the West Bank does not threaten Israel with missiles, but nevertheless suffers widespread erosions of human rights which we witnessed on a fact-finding tour in November, 2008.Restriction of movement due to the separation barrier and checkpoints, combined with the need for travel permits, delay access to hospitals for both patients and health workers. We saw 33-week-old triplet delayed for over 5 h while awaiting permits and finally transferred without their parents, and heard of hospital workers' commuting times increasing from 30 min to more than 2·5 h after the closure to them of nearby checkpoints. At the medical schools we heard of the immense difficulties staff and students face as a result of the paralysing restrictions on travel between institutions in the Occupied Territories.
The total blockade of Gaza meant our entry there was denied, as it has been for humanitarian workers and essential food, energy, and medical supplies since the closure of the border in early November. We heard from Physicians for Human Rights—Israel, of the reduction in exit permits being granted for treatment outside Gaza, and of the practice of denying exit to some patients unless they collaborate with the security service in intelligence gathering. We saw how the Palestinians' opportunities to make a living are being eroded, both by illegal Israeli settlements on their farmland and by discrimination against their industry.Violence continues at all levels: we spoke with schoolchildren, injured in stone-throwing attacks by Israeli children occurring while Israeli soldiers looked on. Children as young as 12 years are prosecuted in the Israeli military courts. The most common charge against children in the military courts is for stone-throwing, which under military law carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.Our experience in the West Bank caused us grave concerns, which have been realised more rapidly and deva-statingly than any of us could have anticipated, in the current dispro-portionate attacks by Israeli forces on Gaza. Our personal insight into this includes the attack by the Israeli navy on the boat Dignity when underway to provide emergency health care to Gaza, and which was carrying a member of our tour group. This report is for our colleagues around the world who might be unaware of the deliberate erosion of human rights in both the West Bank and Gaza. We suggest that, in view of the failure of other measures to influence those in power, serious consideration be given to targeted academic and trade boycotts.We declare that we have no conflict of interest.*David Worth, Su Metcalfe, John Boyd, Adrian Worrall, Paola Canaruttodworth@doctors.org.ukYork Hospital, York YO31 8HE, UK (DW); Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge Clinical School, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK (SM); St George's Medical School, London, UK (JB); Royal College of Psychiatrists' Centre for Quality Improvement, London, UK (AW); and Ospedale S Giovanni Bosco, Turin, Italy (PC)1 Falk R. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967. http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/061f1f4fbdecffe5852574d60065b4ba!OpenDocument (accessed Dec 8, 2008).2 Physicians for Human Rights—Israel. Holding health to ransom: GSS interrogation and extortion of Palestinian patients at Erez crossing. http://www.phr.org.il/phr/files/articlefile_1217866249125.pdf (accessedJan 5, 2009).3 Defence for Children International. Palestinian child political prisoners: semi annual report 2007. http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=605&CategoryId=2 (accessed Dec 8, 2008).4 Tran M. Israel accused of ramming Gaza aid boat. The Guardian Dec 30, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/30/israel-gaza-aid-ship (accessed Jan 4, 2009).Published Online January 9, 2009DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60013-1www.thelancet.com Published online January 9, 2009 DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60013-1 1