The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday that Israel's "deliberate" destruction of health facilities in the Gaza Strip "amounts to a form of collective punishment and constitutes a war crime."

This came in a report by the Commission, which explained that "the pattern of deadly Israeli attacks on Gaza hospitals and their surroundings has pushed the health care system to the brink of total collapse, and has had a catastrophic impact on the ability of Palestinians to access health and medical care," according to the United Nations News website.

The report stated that "the attacks documented between October 12, 2023 and June 30, 2024, raise serious concerns about Israel's compliance with international law."

In the report, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that “the continuous bombardment and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, as the only place where Palestinians should feel safe (hospitals) has become a death trap.”

He stressed that "protecting hospitals during war is of utmost importance, and all parties must respect this principle at all times."

Turk explained that the Commission's report "details the devastation of the health care system in Gaza, and the extent of the killing of patients, staff and other civilians in these attacks, in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law and human rights law."

The Commission said in the report that "the horrific destruction caused by the Israeli military attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital last Friday reflects the pattern of attacks documented in the report."

The report stated that hospital staff and patients "were forced to flee or arrested, with numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment. The hospital director was also arrested and his fate and whereabouts remain unknown."

Turk called for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained medical personnel, according to the website.

Since the beginning of the genocide in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has been targeting the health sector in the Strip, bombing and besieging hospitals, threatening to evacuate them, and preventing the entry of medical supplies, especially in the areas of the northern Gaza Strip, which it invaded again on October 5.

The latest Israeli attack on the health system in Gaza was on Friday, when the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip was stormed, set on fire, put out of service, and more than 350 people were arrested inside, including medical staff, wounded and sick people, and the director, Hussam Abu Safiya.

In this context, the Commission’s report recorded between October 12, 2023 and June 30, 2024 “at least 136 airstrikes on at least 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, resulting in heavy casualties among doctors, nurses, paramedics and other civilians, and causing severe damage to or complete destruction of civilian infrastructure.”

“Under certain circumstances, the deliberate destruction of health care facilities may amount to a form of collective punishment, which in turn may constitute a war crime,” he added.

The report stated that "Israel claims, in most cases, that Palestinian armed groups were using hospitals, but to date it has provided little information to substantiate these claims, which have remained vague and broad, and in some cases appear to contradict publicly available information."

He referred to the first large-scale operation carried out by the Israeli army against the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in November 2023.

He stated that "three mass graves were found (in the medical complex), and some bodies were found still connected to catheter devices, indicating that the dead were patients."

Türk stressed "the need to conduct independent, comprehensive and transparent investigations into all these incidents, and to hold accountable those responsible for all violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law."

He stressed the need for "Israel, as the occupying power, to give priority to ensuring and facilitating access to adequate health care for the Palestinian population, and to future recovery and reconstruction efforts, with the aim of restoring medical capabilities that were destroyed over the past fourteen months of violent conflict" in the Strip.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving about 154,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.