Two UN experts listed “medicide” – or the deliberate eradication of a healthcare system – among the crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.
A statement issued by Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN special rapporteur to health, and Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on Palestine, explained, “In addition to bearing witness to an ongoing genocide, we are also bearing witness to a ‘medicide,’ a sinister component of the intentional creation of conditions calculated to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, which constitutes an act of genocide.”
“Health and care workers have been continuously targeted, detained, tortured and are now, like the rest of the population, being starved,” the statement continued. “Deliberate attacks on health and care workers, and health facilities, which are gross violations of international humanitarian law, must stop now.”
The World Health Organization has reported 735 Israeli attacks on medical facilities in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Over 900 medical personnel have been killed, and 34 Palestinian hospitals have been damaged.
A 2024 report by the Institute for Palestine studies defined ‘medicide’ as “the destruction of a healthcare system in whole or in part with the aim of obliterating or damaging the conditions needed for saving and sustaining the lives of the sick and the wounded.”
The UN experts called for an immediate ceasefire and accountability for Israel. “The disregard towards the crimes Israel continues to commit in Gaza sends a stark message to the world that the people of Gaza do not count and their life does not matter. Palestinians in Gaza are being denied their right to dignity, to existence, and to food,” the statement added.
The US sanctioned Albanese over her outspoken criticism of the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, listing her as a “specially designated national,” meaning Americans and US companies are prohibited from doing business with her.
