The Gaza healthcare system is "on the brink of total collapse" due to relentless Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published on Tuesday.
"The series of deadly attacks by Israel on Gaza's hospitals and nearby areas, coupled with the associated fighting, has pushed the healthcare system to the edge of total collapse, with a catastrophic impact on Palestinians' access to health and medical care," the report stated.
The report also deems Israel's claims that Palestinian armed groups use these buildings as "vague."
"So far, the public does not have sufficient information to support these allegations, which remain vague and general and, in some instances, appear to be contradicted by public information," it says.
Gaza's hospitals have become "death traps," highlighted Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"As if the incessant bombings and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the only sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe has actually become a death trap," he declared.
"The protection of hospitals in wartime is paramount and must be respected by all parties at all times," he added.
On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stressed that the healthcare system in northern Gaza had been "annihilated" by the conflict and that its hospitals were "completely inoperative."
