Human Rights Watch asserted that Israeli occupation forces committed war crimes by causing avoidable deaths and suffering among Palestinian patients during their occupation of hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

The organization stated in a report on Thursday that it documented that "Israeli forces deprived patients of electricity, water, food, and medicine, opened fire on civilians, mistreated health workers, and deliberately destroyed medical facilities and equipment. Unlawful forced evictions placed patients at grave risk and forced hospitals to shut down, putting much-needed facilities out of service."

“Israeli forces repeatedly displayed deadly brutality against Palestinian patients in hospitals they controlled,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The Israeli military’s denial of water and electricity led to the deaths of patients and wounded, while soldiers abused and forcibly displaced patients and medical staff, and damaged and destroyed hospitals.”

It stressed that "by occupying Gaza's hospitals, the Israeli army has transformed medical facilities and recovery centers into centers of death and abuse," calling for "those involved in these horrific violations, including senior officials, to be held accountable."

The organization said, "The Israeli authorities have not announced any investigations into allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law, including alleged war crimes, committed by Israeli ground forces while controlling these or other hospitals. The unlawful forced evacuations from hospitals, deliberately carried out as part of the Israeli government's policy of forcibly displacing Palestinians in Gaza, amount to crimes against humanity."

In its report, the organization documented testimonies from patients and two medical staff who were present when the occupation forces stormed and occupied Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City in November 2023 and again in March 2024, and at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in January 2024, and at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in February 2024.

It explained that "Israeli forces occupying hospitals severely interfered with the treatment of the wounded and sick, rejected doctors' pleas to bring medicines and supplies to the patients, and blocked access to hospitals and ambulances, leading to the deaths of wounded and chronically ill patients, including children undergoing kidney dialysis."

Human Rights Watch noted that "Israeli forces forcibly evacuated hospitals, placing patients, medical staff, and displaced persons at grave risk. They ordered patients to leave hospitals without assistance, including those on stretchers and wheelchairs, and rarely facilitated their transfer to other health facilities, which were sometimes unable to provide care. After Israeli forces evacuated some hospital buildings, they unlawfully burned or destroyed them."

It noted that "Israeli soldiers committed violations against patients, medical personnel, and displaced persons in hospitals, shooting and killing civilians, shooting at medical personnel, and mistreating detainees."

The organization previously reported "unlawful Israeli attacks on hospitals and ambulances, as well as arbitrary detention and torture of medical personnel. As of September 2024, only four of Gaza's 36 hospitals had not been destroyed or damaged by Israeli forces, according to the World Health Organization, posing a serious threat to the population's health in both the short and long term."

It stated that since October 7, 2023, "the Israeli authorities have deliberately imposed harmful and deadly conditions on the Palestinian population in Gaza, including deliberately depriving them of food, water, and other essentials for their survival, such as medicine, which amounts to the crime against humanity of extermination, in addition to acts of genocide."

"Since March 2, the Israeli government has again blocked the entry of all aid into Gaza, including fuel, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. On March 18, the Israeli military launched a new wave of airstrikes and artillery shelling across the Gaza Strip, killing more than 400 people," she said.