‘Wearing Scrubs Is Like Wearing a Target’, Says Medical Practitioner
Following Israel’s December 27 attack on the last functional hospital in northern Gaza, the Security Council today heard appeals for urgent international measures to protect civilians and ensure accountability, including independent investigations into these incidents and the alleged misuse of medical facilities by Hamas.
“A human rights disaster is unfolding in Gaza,” stated Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Referring to a recent report by his Office, he highlighted a pattern of attacks on hospitals from October 7, 2023, to June 30, 2024, beginning with Israeli airstrikes followed by ground raids and the detention of patients and staff, rendering the hospital essentially non-operational. Meanwhile, Hamas and other armed groups reportedly continue to use civilian infrastructure, including health facilities, for their operations, exposing them to attacks.
Israel’s recent attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital — the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza — reflects the patterns documented in the report, Türk said. He noted that Israeli military operations around hospitals in Gaza have had a severe impact, particularly amidst massive healthcare demands due to the ongoing conflict. Emphasizing the need to distinguish between military targets and civilians, he remarked, “The use of heavy weapons against hospitals is hard to reconcile with that principle.”
While acknowledging Israel’s claims that hospitals were misused for military purposes, he pointed out that sufficient evidence had not been provided to support many of these allegations. He called for independent, thorough, and transparent investigations into all Israeli attacks on hospitals, healthcare infrastructure, and medical personnel, as well as the alleged misuse of such facilities.
“Hospitals have become battlegrounds in Gaza,” added Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the West Bank and Gaza, noting that Gaza’s health sector is being systematically dismantled and pushed to the brink. Only 16 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza remain partially functional, with most lacking the capacity to treat chronic diseases and complex injuries. The pace of medical evacuations remains extremely slow, and the entry of supplies is hampered by restrictions and delays. “To date, WHO has verified 654 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza,” he added.
In northern Gaza, only Al-Awda Hospital remains minimally functional after the attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital, he noted. However, reports indicate that this facility, too, has been ordered to evacuate. “The last health line in northern Gaza is at risk of being severed,” he said. Despite this, “the health system of Gaza has not collapsed,” he pointed out, referring to the restoration of Al-Shifa Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex. He urged the reactivation of hospitals in northern Gaza, expedited medical evacuations, sustained access to hospitals, increased aid flow, and an urgent ceasefire.
Tanya Haj Hassan, a medical practitioner with Medical Aid for Palestinians, shared the perspectives of healthcare workers in Gaza who have been sending SOS messages to the Council for over a year. “They tell us they are targets because they’re healthcare workers — that wearing scrubs and white coats is like wearing a target on their backs,” she said. “I never thought international law or human rights institutions would allow 2 million people to be locked in a cage and systematically massacred,” she stressed.
“I speak in disbelief that all of our firsthand, damning testimonies have not yet moved the world to meaningful action,” she continued. Some 96 percent of Gaza’s children believe their death is imminent, and many wish for their own death. In the past week alone, seven infants died from hypothermia, “literally freezing to death,” she said, adding, “I shudder to estimate the number of children who have lost their parents and become orphans for life.”
The Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine urged everyone to choose between standing with hope and humanity, symbolized by the white coats worn by doctors worldwide, or siding with destruction and death. He recalled Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who refused to leave Kamal Adwan Hospital and his patients a few weeks before it was ultimately attacked. “So the army punished me by killing my son. I saw him die at the entrance gate,” he said. The detained doctor’s plight is only one of countless stories of unimaginable loss and trauma from Gaza, the speaker added, calling for his immediate release. Palestinian doctors and medical personnel risked their lives for their mission. “They did not abandon the victims; do not abandon them,” he pleaded, urging an end to the genocide.
Many speakers condemned Israel’s ongoing attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities in Gaza, while others highlighted Hamas’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure.
The United Kingdom’s delegate urged Israel to clarify the whereabouts of detained medical staff from hospitals in northern Gaza. While “Hamas clearly put Palestinian civilians and medical staff at risk” by operating within civilian infrastructure, she emphasized that the obligation to protect hospitals and healthcare workers is “unconditional.”
Egypt’s delegate, representing the Arab Group, noted the lack of evidence supporting Israel’s claims that Gaza’s hospitals were used for other purposes. He called on the Council to compel Israel — through all political and legal means — to implement its resolutions and the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice.
“We believe Israeli troops, bent on collective punishment, have systematically and deliberately destroyed Gaza’s health system,” stated the representative of the Russian Federation. Israel relies on unconditional US support as it cleanses Gaza of Palestinians and creates uninhabitable conditions. Washington continues to provide “political cover” for Israel and block any relevant Security Council initiatives.
Describing the systematic destruction of the healthcare system as a key pillar of Israel’s ethnic cleansing policy, Algeria’s representative said the assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital — “terrorizing patients and medical staff” — was not driven by military necessity but by a deliberate effort to deprive northern Gaza of essential health services.
The deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, patients, and the wounded defies every principle of humanitarian law, noted Pakistan’s delegate, adding that the scale of Israel’s campaign is staggering. “Its intent is unmistakable,” he said. This is not a war but a campaign of dispossession, ethnic cleansing, and annihilation. “Silence is complicity,” he declared.
Similarly, Somalia’s representative stated that deliberate attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel constitute ethnic cleansing and collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population. Guyana’s delegate also noted that “the ongoing attacks on Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, including medical personnel, are part of a systematic plan against the Palestinian people.”
Representatives from France, Denmark, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia expressed concern over the situation of healthcare personnel in Gaza, with Slovenia emphasizing Israel’s legal responsibility as the occupying power to provide medical services in Gaza. Stressing the importance of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Greece’s delegate added that crossings should be open for aid delivery, and sanctuaries should not become death traps for those forced to flee.
China’s representative called on Israel to “stop turning hospitals into battlefields,” noting that negotiation differences should be resolved through political will, not at the expense of innocent lives. Winning the war does not ensure peace, and relying solely on military strength does not guarantee lasting security, he warned.
Expressing concern about repeated attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital, the representative of the Republic of Korea stated, “On December 27, the burning of the facility began while patients were still inside.” Despite Israel’s claims that its forces enabled patient treatment, “the entire world has witnessed the contrary through media reports and images,” he added.
