Israel violated global child rights treaty in Gaza, UN committee says
Israel violated global child rights treaty in Gaza, UN committee says/node/2572079/middle-east
Israel violated global child rights treaty in Gaza, UN committee says
Palestinian children carry pots of soup near a food distribution point in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip on August 21, 2024. (AFP/File)
Israel violated global child rights treaty in Gaza, UN committee says
Updated 20 September 2024
Reuters
GENEVA: A UN committee has accused Israel of severe breaches of a global treaty protecting children’s rights, saying its military actions in Gaza had a catastrophic impact on them and are among the worst violations in recent history.
Palestinian health authorities say 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign in response to cross-border attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7. Of those killed in Gaza, at least 11,355 are children, Palestinian data shows, and thousands more are injured.
“The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history,” said Bragi Gudbrandsson, vice chair of the Committee.
“I don’t think we have seen a violation that is so massive before as we’ve seen in Gaza. These are extremely grave violations that we do not often see,” he said.
Israel, which ratified the treaty in 1991, sent a large delegation to the UN hearings in Geneva between September 3-4.
They argued that the treaty did not apply in Gaza or the West Bank and that it was committed to respecting international humanitarian law. It says its military campaign in Gaza is aimed at eliminating Hamas.
The committee praised Israel for attending but said it “deeply regrets the state party’s repeated denial of its legal obligations.”
The 18-member UN Committee monitors countries’ compliance with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child — a widely adopted treaty that protects them from violence and other abuses.
In its conclusions, it called on Israel to provide urgent assistance to thousands of children maimed or injured by the war, provide support for orphans, and allow more medical evacuations from Gaza.
The UN body has no means of enforcing its recommendations, although countries generally aim to comply.
During the hearings, the UN experts also asked many questions about Israeli children, including details about those taken hostage by Hamas, to which Israel’s delegation gave extensive responses.
What happened to the Palestinian doctors detained by Israeli forces in Gaza?
Palestinian medical workers recount abuse, starvation, and torture in Israeli detention facilities
Rights groups say Israeli attack on health infrastructure violate international humanitarian law
Updated 8 sec ago
ANAN TELLO
LONDON: Rights groups say Israel is deliberately targeting Gaza’s health system, with at least 160 Palestinian medics currently detained having been seized from hospitals. Recently released doctors have described targeted attacks and systematic abuse.
Healthcare Workers Watch, a Palestinian watchdog, reported in February that 162 medical staff are being held by Israeli authorities, including 20 doctors and some of Gaza’s most senior physicians.
The whereabouts of 24 healthcare workers are unknown after they were forcibly removed from hospitals during Israel’s military operation, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, following the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the conflict.
Muath Alser, director of Healthcare Workers Watch, said the detention of medical workers represented a violation of international law, which had exacerbated civilian suffering by stripping Palestinians of essential medical expertise and care.
“Israel’s targeting of the healthcare workforce in this manner is having a devastating impact on the provision of healthcare to Palestinians, with extensive suffering, countless preventable deaths, and the effective eradication of whole medical specialities,” Alser told The Guardian.
Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees in Gaza on Dec. 8, 2023. (AP)
The destruction of Gaza’s health infrastructure has been widely documented. A December 2024 report by the UN Human Rights Office revealed that the enclave’s healthcare system had been brought to the brink of collapse by repeated raids.
Hospitals have been damaged — both directly and indirectly by Israeli airstrikes and combat operations — putting staff and patients at risk. More than 1,000 health workers have been killed, according to the UN.
On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed parts of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza City’s last fully functional hospital. Witnesses said the strike destroyed the intensive care and surgery departments.
Israel said it targeted the hospital because it contained a “command and control center used by Hamas,” but did not provide any evidence. Governments worldwide condemned the attack, including Saudi Arabia, which described the bombing as a “heinous crime.”
IN NUMBERS
1,057+ Palestinian health workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
25% Gaza’s wounded with life-changing injuries who require ongoing rehabilitation.
(Source: OCHA)
Amid growing concerns over Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law, which is designed to protect hospitals, clinics, ambulances, and their staff, Gaza’s health sector is struggling to meet the overwhelming demand.
According to the World Health Organization, just 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remained partially operational as of January, with fewer than 1,800 beds available for tens of thousands of patients.
Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for the West Bank and Gaza, has warned that “the health sector is being systematically dismantled,” citing shortages of medical supplies, equipment, and personnel.
Since October 2023, at least 50,900 Palestinians have been killed and more than 115,688 injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities. As of September 2024, a quarter of the wounded had suffered life-changing injuries.
The WHO also verified that 297 healthcare workers in Gaza had been detained by the Israeli military since October 2023 but had no details on who was still being held. Healthcare Workers Watch reports that 339 have been detained.
The whereabouts of 24 healthcare workers are unknown after they were forcibly removed from hospitals during Israel’s military operation. (AFP)
Several organizations have shared testimonies from recently released Palestinian doctors describing systematic raids, arrests, and allegations of torture.
Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, in a report released in February, said many medical workers had been seized while on duty and held for months without charge under Israel’s Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows indefinite detention without evidence.
Several accounts from released detainees include details of physical violence, sexual abuse, verbal insults, and degrading treatment.
For instance, Dr. Khaled Alser, 32, a surgeon arrested at Nasser Hospital, said: “On the day of my arrest, the army ordered the evacuation of the hospital. There was a battalion outside, and they forced us to strip in front of everyone and walk naked for about 30 meters.”
He said detainees were left naked for hours before being moved to overcrowded rooms in houses, where they were handcuffed with plastic zip ties for five days and interrogated.
“I was next to my medical colleagues when they took them, tortured and beat them, and later released some while arresting others,” he added.
FASTFACTS
As of Sept. 24, 2024, at least three Palestinian physicians have died in Israeli custody.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh died under torture in Israeli custody in May 2024.
(Source: MAP)
Twenty of the 24 medical workers visited by PHRI lawyers said they were arrested while on duty in direct violation of international laws protecting medical staff from interference.
In addition, prison authorities employed brutal interrogation methods. One 60-year-old emergency coordinator and ambulance driver said he was tortured with loud music, beatings, and threats.
“I was interrogated in the ‘Disco Room’ for a week, where the volume was always deafening,” he said. “They beat me so badly during one session that my tooth filling fell out.
“They poured cold water on me, struck me on the head with a cellphone, and beat me half to death. They threatened to harm my family and parents.”
Israel said it targeted Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on Sunday because it contained a “command and control center used by Hamas,” but did not provide any evidence. (AFP)
Similarly, a 38-year-old nurse said he was suspended by his wrists from the ceiling, his legs forced backward, and left in that position for hours.
“They humiliated me and spat on me,” he told the PHRI. “During the interrogation in Ofer Prison, they extinguished cigarettes on my head and poured coffee over me. I was brutally beaten.”
International humanitarian law strictly prohibits physical or psychological abuse during interrogations. Article 32 of the Fourth Geneva Convention bars acts that cause physical suffering or extermination of protected persons, including medical personnel.
“Health workers should be protected to do their work,” a WHO spokesperson told Arab News. “Anyone in detention must have their human and legal rights respected.”
A 38-year-old nurse said he was suspended by his wrists from the ceiling, his legs forced backward, and left in that position for hours during interrogation at Ofer Prison. (AFP)
Israel has accused Hamas and other militant groups of using hospitals as command centers. Under international humanitarian law, hospitals lose protected status if they are used for military purposes.
The deliberate denial of food was also said to be commonplace in Israel’s detention facilities.
The report said all 24 medical professionals interviewed suffered severe malnutrition, as prison authorities provided inadequate meals — in terms of quality and quantity — that also ignored preexisting health conditions like diabetes, causing lasting damage.
One doctor described the food as lacking vitamins and a balanced diet, weakening the detainees’ immune systems. PHRI confirmed this by consulting a clinical nutritionist for an expert assessment of conditions at Ofer Prison near Ramallah.
Compounding health issues from violent treatment and extreme malnutrition in custody, the testimonies highlighted a severe lack of medical care, even for those with preexisting conditions.
Hospitals have been damaged — both directly and indirectly by Israeli airstrikes and combat operations — putting staff and patients at risk. (AFP)
The Israeli Prison Service, in a statement to the American broadcaster CNN following the release of PHRI’s report, denied knowledge of abuse against Palestinian medical workers inside its facilities and claimed it acted according to local law.
In the same vein, the Israeli Defense Forces told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle it “operates in accordance with international law and does not detain medical workers due to their work as such.”
It denied withholding medical treatment or food and said that “any mistreatment of detainees, whether during detention or interrogation, is strictly prohibited and constitutes a violation of Israeli and international law, and of IDF regulations.”
The IDF added that any mistreatment would be investigated.
International human rights organizations and UN agencies have documented Israel’s actions in Gaza, accusing it of war crimes.
Amnesty International said in December that “Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.”
In October 2024, a UN Commission on Detainee Treatment report found that Israeli security forces deliberately killed, detained, and tortured medical personnel, targeted medical vehicles, and tightened the siege on Gaza, restricting permits for medical treatment.
“These actions constitute the war crimes of wilful killing and mistreatment and of the destruction of protected civilian property and the crime against humanity of extermination,” it added.
Balkees Jarrah, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in August that Israel’s “mistreatment of Palestinian healthcare workers has continued in the shadows.”
She called for a thorough investigation into “the torture and ill-treatment of doctors, nurses, and paramedics, including by the International Criminal Court.”
A lawyer representing Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, whose detention by Israeli forces in December sparked international condemnation, said after visiting him in Ofer Prison that the doctor had been tortured, beaten, and denied medical treatment.
In addition, the accounts in PHRI’s report align with findings by other media and rights organizations, including a 2024 Human Rights Watch report that documented similar abuses. It said the detentions have worsened Gaza’s health crisis by limiting access to essential care.
A lawyer representing Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya (C), whose detention by Israeli forces in December sparked international condemnation, said after visiting him in Ofer Prison that the doctor had been tortured, beaten, and denied medical treatment. (AFP)
Likewise, interviews with The Guardian and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism revealed testimonies from eight senior Gaza doctors, detailing torture, beatings, starvation, and humiliation during months of detention.
Some believe they were singled out for extreme violence because they were doctors.
Dr. Issam Abu Ajwa was in the middle of performing emergency surgery on a patient at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza when Israeli soldiers came for him.
Describing his ordeal, he said: “One of the senior interrogators had given instructions that because I was a senior consultant surgeon, they should work hard to make sure that I lost (the use of my hands) and became unable to perform surgery.”
He added that he was handcuffed 24 hours a day, and interrogators used planks with chains to restrain his hands for hours at a time. “They said they wanted to make sure I could never return to work.”
None of the eight senior doctors were given an explanation for their detention, the report says. All were released without charge after months in custody.
Relatives and medics mourn by the body of Palestinian doctor Hani Al-Jaafarawi, Gaza’s ambulance and emergency teams chief during his funeral at Al-Ahli Arab hospital on June 24, 2024. (AFP)
In a statement to DW, the Israeli military rejected the allegations raised by The Guardian, saying: “During the fighting in the Gaza Strip, suspects of terrorist activities were arrested.”
It added: “The relevant suspects have been taken for further detention and questioning in Israel. Those who are not involved in terrorist activity are released back to the Gaza Strip as soon as possible.”
PHRI’s report found that Palestinian medical workers were primarily questioned about Israeli hostages, tunnels, hospital structures, Hamas activity, and fellow physicians — rarely about criminal activity or substantive charges.
The report said the interrogations appeared focused on “intelligence gathering rather than investigating alleged security offenses.”
It noted that after months in detention, most medical personnel were never formally charged and were denied legal representation.
Israeli military patrols near Al-Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City on November 22, 2023. (AFP)
Naji Abbas, director of PHRI’s Department for Prisoners and Detainees’ Rights, said: “Through the testimonies, through our visits, we started to understand that the doctors were arrested mainly for collecting information.
“When you hear a doctor saying that he was forced to draw a map of the hospital, when he was asked about his colleagues … you can understand that there is a pattern of questioning … fishing for information,” he told Democracy Now, a left-leaning US news program.
In a statement within the February report, Abbas called the “unlawful detention, abuse, and starvation of Gaza’s healthcare workers” a “moral and legal outrage.”
He added that “medical professionals should never be targeted, detained, or tortured for providing life-saving care,” and demanded Israel “release all detained medical personnel immediately,” urging the international community to “demand accountability.”
What we know about Israel’s latest Gaza ceasefire proposal
A previous ceasefire, initiated on January 19, resulted in the release of 33 hostages in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, before it collapsed two months later
Updated 20 min 31 sec ago
AFP
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Nearly a month after Israel resumed its aerial and ground assaults across Gaza to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages in the territory, the Palestinian militant group says it had received a new ceasefire proposal from Israel.
A senior Hamas official told AFP that the group would “most likely” respond within 48 hours.
The proposal was delivered to the group’s delegation in Cairo over the weekend by Egyptian officials, who are mediating in the ceasefire talks.
Another senior Hamas official told AFP late on Monday that Israel had proposed a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10 living hostages.
In return, Israel would free 1,231 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and allow humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory, which it has been fully blockading since March 2.
During Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza, Palestinian militants abducted 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
A previous ceasefire, initiated on January 19, resulted in the release of 33 hostages in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, before it collapsed two months later.
The latest proposal also stipulates that any hostage release occur privately, in contrast to the previous releases involving public ceremonies in Gaza that drew widespread criticism in Israel.
The Hamas official said that the Israeli proposal calls for the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander on the first day of the ceasefire as a “gesture of goodwill.”
Alexander is the only living hostage to hold US citizenship.
On the second day, Hamas would exchange five more hostages for 66 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 611 Gazans detained during the current war.
On the third day, talks would begin over “day after” scenarios for when the war ends, including the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian factions in exchange for a permanent ceasefire.
Hamas has insisted that preserving its arms is a red line.
In the second week of the ceasefire, Hamas would release four more living hostages in exchange for 54 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and another 500 Gaza detainees.
Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan 11, said that the proposal also stipulates that Hamas release the bodies of 16 hostages on the 20th day of the ceasefire.
Hamas negotiators visited Cairo last week where they received the proposal, Suhail Al-Hindi, a member of the group’s political bureau, told AFP on Tuesday.
The official who spoke to AFP the day before said on Tuesday that “Hamas will most likely send its response to the mediators within the next 48 hours, as the movement is still conducting in-depth consultations... within its leadership framework, as well as with resistance factions, in order to formulate a unified position.”
He said that consultations were ongoing, and that Hamas was “keen to end the aggression and the war” but would require guarantees from Egypt, Qatar and US mediators that Israel would uphold its side of the deal.
“Hamas has no issue with the number of prisoners and is ready to release them all at once or in batches,” he added.
Israel has remained silent on the latest proposal.
However, the campaign group Tikva Forum of Hostages’ Families, which represents a small group of families of hostages advocating for the continuation of military pressure, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had confirmed that the country was indeed seeking the release of 10 living captives.
According to the group, Netanyahu spoke with Ditza Or, the mother of hostage Avinatan Or, late on Monday and confirmed that Alexander was among those included in the proposed exchange.
She responded by saying that “there is a moral obligation to return everyone together in one stage and on one bus,” the group added.
Protests erupts in Tunisian town after three died in school wall collapse
For demonstrators, the tragedy reflects the deterioration of public service in Tunisia
Witnesses said protesters burned wheels, blocked roads, and smashed a government vehicle
Updated 23 min 35 sec ago
Reuters
TUNIS: Hundreds of Tunisians protested on Tuesday, demanding accountability, after three students died on Monday following a school wall collapse in the central town of Mazzouna, an incident that provoked widespread anger and accusations of negligence against officials.
The collapse of a dilapidated wall led to the death of three teenaged students preparing for their baccalaureate exams, and two others were seriously injured, the Civil Defense said.
For demonstrators, the tragedy reflects the deterioration of public service in Tunisia and the neglect of maintenance of the country’s aging infrastructure, amid a worsening economic and social crisis.
Witnesses said protesters burned wheels, blocked roads, and smashed a government vehicle. All shops and schools in the area were closed.
Protesters gathered near the National Guard headquarters in Mazzouna town, shouting slogans against social marginalization and demanding the dismissal of officials.
In Tunis, hundreds of young people also protested, raising anti-government slogans and demanding the government’s resignation, in a show of solidarity with the victims of the accident.
Authorities have opened an investigation into the incident. A judicial spokesperson said the school principal has been arrested.
Khamenei says Iran-US talks going well but may lead nowhere
Updated 56 min 58 sec ago
AFP
TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday he was satisfied with talks with arch-foe the US but warned they could ultimately prove fruitless.
Tehran and Washington are due to meet again in Muscat on Saturday, a week after top officials held the highest-level talks since the landmark 2015 nuclear accord collapsed.
US President Donald Trump, who pulled out of the deal during his first term, revived his “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign after returning to office in January.
In March, he sent a letter to Khamenei urging talks and warning of possible military action if Iran refused.
Saturday’s talks were “well carried out in the first steps,” Khamenei said, quoted by state television. “Of course, we are very pessimistic about the other side, but we are optimistic about our own capabilities.”
But he added that “the negotiations may or may not yield results.”
Despite having no diplomatic ties since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, both sides described the talks as “constructive.”
Iran insists discussions remain “indirect” and mediated by Oman.
On Monday, Trump again threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if no deal was reached, calling Iranian authorities “radicals” who should not possess nuclear weapons.
Officials from around the world are meeting in London to ‘agree a pathway to end the suffering in Sudan’
Updated 15 April 2025
AFP
KHARTOUM: Sudan on Tuesday marked two years of a war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis — with no sign of peace.
Fighting erupted on April 15, 2023 between the regular army, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Khartoum quickly became a battleground. Bodies lined the streets. Hundreds of thousands fled. Those left behind struggled to survive.
“I’ve lost half my bodyweight,” said 52-year-old Abdel Rafi Hussein, who stayed in the capital under RSF control until the army retook it last month.
“We’re safe (now), but still, we suffer from a lack of water and electricity and most hospitals aren’t working.”
The army’s recapture of Khartoum marked a turnaround after more than a year of setbacks.
Many civilians celebrated what they called the “liberation” of the capital from the RSF, whose fighters were accused of widespread looting and sexual violence.
But now the RSF is seeking to cement its grip on the vast western region of Darfur, where it has launched a deadly assault on El-Fasher — the last major city in the region outside its control.
More than 400 people have been killed in the offensive, the United Nations said, with the paramilitaries having claimed control of the nearby Zamzam displacement camp on Sunday.
An estimated 400,000 civilians fled the famine-hit camp as the RSF advanced, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The army said on Tuesday that it had carried out “successful air strikes” against RSF positions northeast of the city.
In total, the conflict has displaced some 13 million people, 3.8 million of them abroad, according to UN figures.
In London on Tuesday, officials from around the world were meeting to “agree a pathway to end the suffering” in Sudan, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
But neither of the warring parties attended the meeting, where the African Union and European countries called for an end to the war.
“We have got to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians, to let aid in and across the country, and to put peace first,” he said, adding that the international community “simply cannot look away.”
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said Sudan had faced “indifference from the outside world.”
“The Sudanese are besieged on all sides — war, widespread abuses, indignity, hunger and other hardships,” he said, warning that “continuing to look away will have catastrophic consequences.”
Precise death tolls are not available because of the collapse of the health care system, but former US envoy Tom Perriello cited estimates last year of up to 150,000 dead.
Both sides have been accused of targeting civilians, shelling homes and blocking aid.
Some 25 million people face acute food insecurity, and eight million are on the brink of famine in what the UN has called the world’s largest hunger crisis.
On Tuesday, the world body said 2.1 million people are expected to return to Khartoum over the next six months following the army’s recapture.
In central Sudan — where the UN said nearly 400,000 people had returned to areas retaken by the army by March — many have come back to ruins, preferring destitution at home to displacement.
Wad Madani, just south of Khartoum, has had “no electricity for a year and a half,” 63-year-old Mohamed Al-Amin told AFP, adding that only some water treatment facilities have been restored sice the army retook the city in January.
Zainab Abdel Rahim, 38, returned to Khartoum North this month with her six children, to find their home looted beyond recognition.
“We’re trying to pull together the essentials, but there’s no water, no electricity, no medicine,” she said.
According to Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN’s children’s agency, the war has “shattered the lives of millions of children across Sudan.”
UNICEF figures show 2,776 children were killed or maimed in 2023 and 2024 — up from 150 in 2022 — and the real toll is likely higher.
The Zamzam camp, which had been sheltering up to a million people, was the first place in Sudan where famine was declared.
Other nearby camps have followed and famine is expected to take hold in El-Fasher itself by next month.
On Monday, Guterres called for an end to “the external support and flow of weapons” fueling the war.
“Those with greatest influence on the parties must use it to better the lives of people in Sudan — not to perpetuate this disaster,” he said, without naming any countries.
