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Al Jazeera Net correspondents
London– Transform the Israeli occupation Hospitals In the Gaza Strip, he reached a main target for his aggression against the Strip, besieging it, bombing it, and targeting its medical teams and civilians who took refuge there, and all of this under the pretext of the presence of military targets and command centers for the Islamic Resistance Movement.”agitation“, under these hospitals.
Despite the occupation’s inability to prove any of its claims, it still insists on destroying the health infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, in the face of the silence of the world and international institutions, so the question remains: What does international law say about targeting hospitals during wars? What are the international agreements that protect health hospitals? What penalties might be imposed on perpetrators of attacks on hospitals?
Al Jazeera Net asked these questions to the British lawyer and expert in international law, “Ellora Choudhury,” the legal advisor at the Center for Justice for Palestine (ICJP) in Britain, and the following are her answers.
- What international agreements and laws protect hospitals during times of war?
Hospitals and health facilities are considered civilian places and have special protection under international humanitarian law, or the “law of war.” According to international law, these hospitals must be respected, protected, and not targeted under any circumstances.
According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which covers how to protect civilians during times of war, it expands the concept of medical facilities to include all buildings in which there are injured or sick people and who are being cared for, not just hospitals. According to Article 18 of this convention, it stipulates that “it is not permissible Under no circumstances should civilian hospitals organized to provide care for the wounded, sick, infirm, and mothers be the target of attack. Rather, the parties to the conflict must respect and protect them at all times.”
According to the same agreement, any violation of the protection of these health institutions, through attacks that exacerbate the suffering of those in these institutions, or cause them to be injured or wounded, is considered a serious violation of international law or a war crime, and could lead those who commit them to face criminal charges according to international law. .
According to the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention in 1977, there are provisions that provide for the protection of hospitals, as Article 12 stipulates that “medical units must be protected, respected at all times, and cannot be targeted under any circumstances.”
According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 8 stipulates that “an intentional attack against hospitals and places where there are sick and wounded persons, and there is no evidence that they are military objectives, is considered a war crime.”
- Assuming there is a military target inside hospitals, does international law allow targeting them?
Hospitals and health units become outside the protection of international law only “if they are used outside of their humanitarian function and are used to target the enemy,” according to Article 19 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 13 of the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention. This includes “the use of a hospital as a shelter for combatants or fugitives, or as a warehouse.” for weapons or ammunition.
However, even if armed forces illegally use hospitals to hide combatants or store weapons, any attacking army must issue a direct warning to combatants, allowing them sufficient time to comply and put an end to any misuse, if there is any doubt and uncertainty on the part of the military. Attacker: It is not permissible to attack hospitals and other medical facilities.
Neither side can force an entire hospital treating the sick and wounded to evacuate, and neither side is allowed to attack unless a warning is not heeded. They must also prove that combatants were still present inside the hospital before any attack. Any attack must comply with the basic principles of international humanitarian law of proportionality, distinction and caution.
Proportionality means that any loss of civilian life must be proportional to the military advantage gained. Attacks in which the loss of civilian life and property is excessive compared to the concrete and direct military gain are disproportionate. Concerns about disproportionate attacks become even more important when it comes to hospitals, because they are full of vulnerable, sick and wounded people, and even a minor attack can have serious consequences for children. Life or death of patients.
Distinction means that parties to a conflict must at all times distinguish between civilians and combatants, and between civilian targets and military targets. Attacks may only be directed against military objectives.
- According to international law, can targeting hospitals be classified as a war crime?
Yes, it is a war crime according to Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998, which established a list of war crimes, including “the deliberate and direct targeting of hospitals and places where sick or wounded persons gather, and in which there is no military target.”
- How can the perpetrators of these crimes be prosecuted in international courts?
Yes, the perpetrators of these crimes can be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court, and the leaders of these attacks, or those who ordered their implementation, can be tried if there is clear evidence that hospitals were deliberately targeted while they were devoid of any military target. The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into the situation in Palestine in 2021. It has jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories – Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – since June 13, 2014.
