Why was a hospital being told to evacuate? That is incredibly bizarre. ICU patients are not easily evacuated and that includes premature babies, patients on ventilators, kidney dialysis, needing surgery, needing IV for infections, just to name a few. Where were they supposed to go? Israel had shut off ALL electricity to Gaza.
Because the IDF had evidence that Hamas was operating out of that hospital. There are many articles linked in this and prior threads that provide evidence that Hamas was indeed operating out of this hospital so this is the last I’ll say on this and I’ll just label it as MOO.
No government is allowed to do harm to civilians, yet Israel launched air strikes at residential areas, refugee camps, near hospitals, schools, obliterated homes of civilians to the point parents were frantically trying to rescue their children to no avail. Nothing about it is humanitarian and I hope the PM and his inhumane pals are prosecuted to the fullest extent of international law.
I’m no expert on international law, but it seems to me like Israel followed an appropriate course of action toward a hospital that is also being used as a military facility. Now if there is evidence that they committed war crimes, by all means that should be investigated and prosecuted as necessary. As should the apparent war crimes of Hamas.
Israel’s attack on Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital has sparked accusations of war crimes – but Israel says it falls within the boundaries of international law
www.theguardian.com
What does humanitarian law say about hospitals?
The Geneva conventions, adopted in the aftermath of the second world war, form the core of international humanitarian law and “are particularly protective of civilian hospitals”, according to Mathilde Philip-Gay, an expert in international humanitarian law at Lyon 3 University in south-east France.
It is forbidden to turn recognised civilian hospitals into a conflict zone. It is also forbidden to use civilian populations, the sick or the injured as human shields, it is a war crime, as is fighting from inside a hospital.
Article 8 of the Rome statute, which established the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague, defines a long list of war crimes including “intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected”.
But it makes an exception if the targets are “military objectives”. Philip-Gay said that “if a civilian hospital is used for acts harmful to the enemy, that is the legal term used”, the hospital can lose its protected status under international law and be considered a legitimate target. Nevertheless, if there is doubt as to whether a hospital is a military objective or being used for acts harmful to the enemy, the presumption, under international humanitarian law, is that it is not.”
[…]
What happens if a hospital loses its protected status?
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA),
says: “
Any military operation around or within hospitals must take steps to spare and protect the patients, medical staff, and other civilians. All feasible precautions must be taken, including effective warnings, which consider the ability of patients, medical staff, and other civilians to evacuate safely.”
Philip-Gay said: “The other party must take all precautions to avoid intentionally targeting civilians.” Even if the hospital was used for “acts harmful to the enemy”, Philip-Gay said, the other party “does not have the right to bombard it for two days and completely destroy it”, citing the need under international law for the response to be “proportionate”.
She added that the other party must give advance warning of its response and that evacuation procedures must be put in place for patients and health workers.
Alternatively, they could be asked “to isolate themselves in a part of the hospital”, she said. But during any military operation against the site, “there have to be doctors to take care of the patients”.
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