Human rights violations during Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip: 27 December 2008 to 19 January 2009

Abstract

The Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip from 27 December 2008 to 19 January 2009 was characterised by gross, unprecedented human rights violations, which were the result of a deliberate political decision to overlook the loss of civilian lives in order to save those of Israeli soldiers. These violations included attacking medical personnel and civilians, impeding emergency medical evacuations, restricting health care for the civilian population, preventing referral to care outside the Gaza Strip and jeopardising distribution of medical supplies and food.

This article will focus on the right to health of Palestinians under Israeli occupation by presenting case studies that have been collected by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. It will emphasise how the Palestinian medical system has been stretched to its breaking point, severely and negatively affecting the provision of medical services; the consequences of denying patients referral to care outside the Gaza Strip; and other severe violations of human rights. It will conclude by reiterating that only the withdrawal of Israeli occupation from Palestinian land can guarantee the right to health of Palestinians.

Keywords:

• health care
• human rights
• right to health
• military attack on Gaza
• Cast Lead
• Gaza Strip
• health personnel
• PHR-Israel
• violation of human rights
• Physician for Human Rights Israel
• emergency medical evacuations
• Israeli occupation of Palestine

Notes

1. See updates and reports on Physicians for Human Rights-Israel's updates web page available from: http://d843006.bc470.best-cms.com/default.asp?PageID=190&PageNo = 5 [Accessed 1 December 2010].

2. For additional information on the Israeli restrictions on goods and materials entering Gaza, see http://www.gisha.org

3. See Horton (2009, 2010) on public health in the occupied Palestinian territories.

4. Discussions held between PHR-Israel affiliated physicians and Gaza medical personnel indicate this to be the most serious problem confronting their health system today.

5. See, for example, the reports of Human Rights Watch, available from: http://www.hrw.org/en/by-issue/publications/228; the World Health Organization (WHO 2009a), available from: http://www.who.int/hac/crises/international/wbgs/sitreps/gaza_4feb2009/en/index.html; and the Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (United Nations Human Rights Council 2009), available from: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/FactFindingMission.htm

6. Monthly data on referrals of Gaza patients for medical treatment abroad are collected and published by the WHO and are available from: http://www.who.int/hac/crises/international/wbgs/en/

7. UNRWA suspends relief operations in the Gaza Strip until security can be guaranteed. See http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_humanitarian_situation_report_2009_01_08_english.pdf [Accessed 8 January 2009].

8. See also Amnesty International (2009) on human rights violations during the attacks.

9. This point is further elaborated in the March 2009 and July 2010 Lancet publications. See reference section for full citations of these two articles.

10. Recently, human rights organisations in Israel have been under attack by public officials, who have proposed legislation to limit their freedom of association and speech. See http://d843006.bc470.best-cms.com/default.asp?PageID = 312 [Accessed 1 November 2010].