human-rights

"Very early into the war, all major hospitals in northern Gaza... were shelled, besieged, or forcibly evacuated."

"Collapsed water and systems have led to detrimental environmental effects."

"Understanding... requires following key events at least since the 1948 war—the Palestinian Nakba ("Catastrophe"). Israel forcibly displaced over 80% of the indigenous Palestinian population through mass deportations, internment of civilians, massacres, and the systematic destruction of Palestinian infrastructure. More than 200,000 of the 751,000 Palestinians recorded as refugees fled to the Gaza Strip, tripling its prewar population."

"The prolonged famine will have severe long-term effects, particularly on children. ...[[Psychological trauma|[M]ental effects]] of the atrocities will persist..."

"Taking a health-focused approach to identify genocidal intent and policy, the report documents the systematic dismantling of Gaza’s health system, destruction of medical facilities, blocking of drugs, and killings and arrests of health workers. ...[T]hey implore health and humanitarian communities worldwide to confront the destruction of Gaza’s medical system, attacks on its infrastructure and environment, and deliberate targeting of the conditions needed for human survival in Gaza. ...[T]hird parties, PHRI argues, have a duty to terminate this genocidal campaign and protect the health, lives, and dignity of Palestinians."

"These issues are deeply interwoven with... categories... in the definition of genocide under Article II of the ..."

"This... assault has produced a... failure of health and humanitarian infrastructure, compounded by policies leading to starvation, disease, and the breakdown of , housing, and education systems."

"[D]estruction of Gaza's health system is not only a legal violation but a humanitarian catastrophe demanding urgent global solidarity and response."

"Mass displacement and the destruction of buildings... rendered the education system... inoperable, while also destroying family and community structures..."

"Hospitals, clinics, ambulances, and medical personnel have been systematically targeted, rendered non-functional, or killed. Diagnostic and treatment capacities have been eliminated, resulting in deaths due to acute and chronic life-threatening conditions, including infectious, cardiac, and oncologic diseases."

"On March 2 [2025], Israel imposed a second total siege on the Gaza Strip—the longest yet... cutting off all humanitarian and medical access. The World Food Programme (WFP), WHO, and other UN agencies reported... bakeries ran out of flour and fuel, food stocks... depleted, and hospitals... unable to operate... In May alone, 5,000 children in Gaza were diagnosed with ..."

"[A]ttacks on Gaza's hospitals... blocked medical evacuations, prevented patients from entering or leaving... and killed or detained... patients and medical staff. The raids caused significant damage... while denying... critical resources, including electricity, water, and medical supplies. These... endangered... lives... [and] severely undermined the hospitals' ability to function."

"Repeated direct attacks on hospitals... obstruction of supply flows and aid, and the decimation of medical personnel through killings and detentions made recovery impossible."

"[A]cts of killing (Article II(a)) may also contribute to broader patterns of deprivation."

"...Israel's actions have destroyed Gaza's healthcare infrastructure in a manner that is both calculated and systematic."

"Humanitarian relief has been deliberately restricted, forcing civilians to approach militarized distribution points that have often become sites of s."

"Children face... trauma, while women endure... miscarriages, s, and maternal mortality amid famine and lack of reproductive healthcare services."

"PHRI urges international bodies and states to fulfill their duty under Article I of the to stop the Gaza genocide."

"Repeated Israeli military escalations between 2008 and 2021 severely damaged healthcare infrastructure and exhausted its emergency response capacity."

"The dismantling of long-term critical care, as well as preventative and diagnostic medicine, will have lasting consequences for the treatment of infectious, cardiac, oncological, and other diseases..."

"[T]he destruction of healthcare infrastructure may constitute both the infliction of conditions of life (Article II(c)) and serious bodily or mental harm (Article II(b))."

"Through sustained military attacks, siege policies, and the obstruction of humanitarian access, including medical supplies, Israel has dismantled the institutions and services essential to health and survival."

"By early June, the health system had reached a state of near-total collapse. With only 14 out of 36 hospitals only partially functional, and most major facilities in Rafah and central Gaza either shuttered or overwhelmed, medical staff faced impossible conditions."

"[[w:Kamal Adwan Hospital sieges|[D]estruction of Kamal Adwan]] marked dealt a decisive blow to northern Gaza's healthcare system. With no remaining medical facilities, no operational ambulances, and no rescue infrastructure, northern Gaza's health system was erased."

"On March 23, Israeli forces opened fire on marked ambulances and a fire-fighting vehicle, killing 15 Palestinian medics... attempting to assist wounded civilians after an airstrike. They were buried in an apparent attempt to eliminate evidence. The International Federation of the Red Cross called it "the most deadly attack on medical workers in a decade." (Jun 19, 2025)"

"As of May 23, over 90% of Gaza's 531 health service points were either entirely or partially out of service, with many of the last remaining sites located inside declared evacuation zones, inaccessible to civilians and medics alike."

"PHRI... ... documents.. a deliberate, cumulative dismantling of Gaza’s health system, and... its people’s ability to survive. This amounts to genocide. Israel’s bombing of hospitals, destruction of medical equipment, and depletion of medications have made medical care... impossible. ...Each day, dozens die of malnutrition. Ninety-two percent of infants aged six months to two years don’t get enough to eat. ...85 children have ...starved to death. Israel has displaced 9 in 10 Gazans, destroyed or damaged 92% of homes, and left... half a million children without schools or stability. It has wiped out essential health services... [A]ctions are critical—and must be taken immediately—to prevent further loss of life."

"From October 2024, Israel executed a military campaign aimed at physically and functionally erasing northern Gaza."

"By late December 2023, only nine of the Gaza Strip's 36 hospitals remained partially functional - all located in the south."

"The deliberate infliction of life-destroying conditions, where undertaken with the intent to eliminate a protected group, constitutes genocide under Article II(c) of the . The deprivation of basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, and medical care can thus fulfill the material element..."

"Israel's military campaign in Gaza since October 2023... constitutes genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention."

"The evidence shows a deliberate and systematic dismantling of Gaza's health and life-sustaining systems—through targeted attacks on hospitals, obstruction of medical aid and evacuations, and the killing and detention of healthcare personnel."

"Gaza's health system has been systematically dismantled—its hospitals rendered non-functional, medical evacuations blocked, and essential services like trauma care, surgery, dialysis, and eliminated."

"[K]illing and detention of over 1,800 healthcare workers... has decimated Gaza's medical capacity and rendered recovery nearly impossible."

"As of mid-2025, over 57,000 Palestinians - primarily women and children - have been confirmed killed, with estimates nearing 100,000 when indirect deaths are included."

"Gaza residents... detained and held in Israeli facilities report systematic torture, medical neglect, and degrading treatment..."

"[T]hese acts... part of a deliberate policy targeting Palestinians... fulfill... core acts defined in Article II of the : (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; and (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its destruction in whole or in part."

"Despite international legal rulings, Israel has not complied... and global enforcement remains weak."

"In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank... and the Gaza Strip, displacing over 400,000..."

"Since 2007, Israel has imposed a comprehensive blockade on the Gaza Strip."

"Following Hamas' attack, Israel launched a sustained and far-reaching military offensive against the Gaza Strip."

"Today's rampant starvation and in the Gaza Strip carry critical long-term effects, particularly for children."

"[S]ince October 2023... we have gathered eyewitness testimonies and documented hundreds of incidents involving unprecedented and extreme violence... throughout the territory Israel controls, while key politicians and... commanders... openly declared the policies... Countless evidence... reflects the horrifying transformation of the... Israeli system in its treatment of Palestinians."

"As a human rights organization... our duty [is] to analyze human rights violations... in context, taking into account the regime... and its guiding political logic."

"At , Jewish-Israelis and Palestinians... work side by side, guided by... defending human rights... [as] a basic human and moral obligation. ...[A] discriminatory apartheid regime ...classifies some ...as privileged ...because we are Jewish, and others as undeserving of ...protection ...because we are Palestinian. Together, we fight for the right we all have to live... without discrimination, violent repression and annihilation."

"[W]hen the State of Israel was established... [i]t... had a clear objective... to cement the supremacy of the Jewish group across... territory under Israeli control. The main tool... the establishment of an apartheid regime (one that, unlike... South Africa, has never been formally declared as such and... has been consistently denied...) This regime is designed to cement... supremacy... through demographic engineering, separation, shaping public discourse, indoctrination, militarism, and... use of force and violence."

"In 2021, joined many others, first and foremost Palestinian organizations and activists, who for decades... identified the Israeli regime as... apartheid... We wrote: ...the Israeli regime implements laws, practices and state violence designed to cement the supremacy of one group — Jews — over another — Palestinians. A key method... is engineering space differently for each group."

"[T]he core objective... The... Israeli system — political, military, public, and legal — is structured to uphold Jewish supremacy, relying on a false pretense of... rule of law while... rights of... Palestinian subjects are... unprotected."

"Israel is intensifying its brutal, merciless assault... [I]t is our duty to bear witness to... [what] we and many others have documented and investigated. It is our duty to name the reality... to recount it, and to stand with... victims."

"Given the... escalation in... violence against Palestinians in all these areas — which... includes... grave crimes — we must call for an immediate end to the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and warn of clear and imminent danger that... genocide will not remain confined to Gaza."