Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza have devastated the Palestinian enclave’s health system and raised serious concerns about Israel’s compliance with international law, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report on Tuesday (Dec 31).

The 23-page report, documenting various attacks between Oct 12, 2023, and June 30, 2024, concluded that since the Hamas attacks against Israel on Oct 7, 2023, the conduct of hostilities in Gaza had had severe consequences on Palestinians’ access to medical attention.

“The destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza, and the extent of killing of patients, staff, and other civilians in these attacks, is a direct consequence of the disregard of international humanitarian and human rights law,” it said.

Daniel Meron, Israel’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, described the report’s data as fabricated. He said on X that Israel operates in accordance with international law, would never target innocent civilians, and accused Hamas of using Gaza hospitals for what he called “terror activity”.

The Israeli military has accused Hamas of using hospitals as command centres for military operations and said that people Israel has detained at the facilities were suspected militants.

The UN report alluded to such arguments but said not enough information had been made public to substantiate them.