Ramallah, November 15 (RHC)-- Israel’s military has deleted a social media post that suggested Palestinian ambulances and hospitals are “terrorist infrastructure” and “legitimate military targets.”
The post on X had claimed ambulances and hospitals were used by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas for its fighters and operations. “This is against international law and turns them into legitimate military targets,” the post read.
Diana Buttu, lawyer and former legal adviser for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said Israel has in the past made similar allegations but never proved them. “But even if it tries to do that, we have to bear in mind what Israel is trying to do is commit genocide against Palestinians and it has to be stopped now.”
There appears to be no end in sight to Israel’s savagery in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. In Gaza, the regime is transforming every street into the scenes of bloodshed.
The most recent Israeli airstrike killed 40 Palestinians. A UN-operated school in the northern city of Beit Lahia was among the targets.
Israel indiscriminately hits hospitals where people are seeking refuge. Hospitals are among civilian infrastructure that have specific protections under international law.
The Geneva Conventions of 1949 states that hospitals “may in no circumstances be the object of attack but shall at all times be respected and protected by the parties to the conflict.”
Observers say nothing is probably more synonymous with war crimes than targeting hospitals and killing war-stricken people taking shelter there.
Mukesh Kapila, a former UN humanitarian agency coordinator, says he’s spent 30 years working in numerous conflicts around the world, but Israel’s campaign is “unique,” he adds. Kapila denounced Israel’s repeated attacks on emergency services personnel as well as overwhelmed medical facilities.
“What we’re seeing now is that all rules have broken down and there are no norms because this is a war on a whole society. There are really no rules at all. What we need to happen, therefore, is a rescue from outside.”
Israel has encircled Shifa Hospital in Gaza City while bombing it repeatedly over the past several days. According to reports, Israeli snipers continue to fire at anyone near the medical facility. The death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 11,100, with more than 8,000 women and children falling victim to the regime’s relentless raids.
Meanwhile, the regime is engaged in ground operations. Intense clashes have been reported in the vicinity of Gaza City.
The Quds Brigades of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement says its fighters targeted Israeli troops and vehicles south of the city. The regime says 44 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground invasion that began two weeks ago.