![United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, speaks during an exclusive interview on the developments in Gaza and the current situation in the health infrastructure there, in Geneva, Switzerland on April 24, 2024. [Photo by Muhammet Ikbal Arslan/Anadolu via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-2149382751.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The UN Special Rapporteur for human rights, Tlaleng Mofokeng, has called for the protection of healthcare workers in the occupied Palestinian territories, WAFA has reported.
“I remain shocked by Israel’s blatant disregard for the right to health in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories,” said Mofokeng, following the killing in Israeli custody of Dr Ziad Al-Dalo from Gaza.
The UN official noted that Al-Dalo was an internal medicine doctor at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. He was detained along with other healthcare workers while on duty at the hospital on 18 March during a raid by Israeli forces.
The doctor died on 21 March while in custody, one of more than 885 healthcare workers killed in Gaza and the West Bank since 7 October, including nurses, paramedics, doctors and other medical personnel. Many more have been injured, and the World Health Organisation has reported 1,043 attacks on health centres in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
“Israel must stop destroying and impeding the already limited functioning of the health system in Palestine, by protecting healthcare workers,” said Mofokeng. “The practice of medicine is never a crime during conflict, but the targeted killing of healthcare workers is a crime. Israel must stop.”
She stressed that targeting healthcare workers and health facilities contravenes the fundamental right of individuals to access essential healthcare services, which is of paramount importance in times of conflict. Such targeting may, she added, constitute a war crime.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 128 healthcare workers remain in detention after being arbitrarily detained by Israel while carrying out their duties. Mofokeng called for the immediate release of all healthcare workers detained in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories; for prompt, independent and impartial investigations to be conducted; and for those who unlawfully detained and killed them to be held accountable.
“The inability of a people to fully exercise their right to self-determination affects the enjoyment of all of their fundamental rights, including the right to Health,” she pointed out.
The UN rapporteur also called for an immediate ceasefire, an end to Israel’s occupation — which the International Court of Justice ruled in July is illegal — and an end to the genocide.
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