By Merve Aydogan
HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - An independent UN Commission on Wednesday confirmed that Israel has a "concerted policy" to destroy the Gaza Strip’s health care system.
"Our report to the General Assembly, which we presented this morning, examines attacks on medical facilities and personnel and the treatment of detainees and hostages from 7th of October, 2023 to August 2024," Navi Pillay, chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, said at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York.
Saying that the findings revealed "a concerted policy to destroy Gaza's health care system," Pillay noted that "Palestinian detainees were subjected to persistent mistreatment by Israeli authorities, amounting to torture as a war crime and crime against humanity."
"We intend to continue pursuing the fulfillment of our mandate, including in relation to making recommendations, in particular on accountability measures," she said, pledging efforts to end impunity and ensuring legal accountability.
The report submitted to the General Assembly found "thousands of Palestinians, mostly men and boys from Gaza, have been arbitrarily detained and held incommunicado."
"Israeli forces used detainees as human shields in both the West Bank and Gaza, constituting a war crime," it said.
The commission reported that Palestinian detainees, including the elderly and children, "were subjected to persistent mistreatment by Israeli authorities, including beatings, continuous blindfolding and handcuffing, severe overcrowding, death threats, humiliation, deprivation of food, restricting appropriate hygiene and withholding medical care."
Asked about the legal consequences and the "slow-moving processes" in the International Criminal Court (ICC), Pillay said: "It's a slow process, but we are getting there. We're getting there mainly because of activism on the part of civil society and victims and commissions such as us."
Regarding "positive steps" that countries should take to end the Israeli occupation, Pillay said the "onus lies on every state under international law to take steps not to cooperate with the occupation itself."
She reminded all countries of their responsibility "not to continue to support this (Israeli) occupation. That would be any support -- militarily, politically or recognition -- even about moving the embassies to Jerusalem."
"You have to change your traditional way of treating the situation," she said.
Pillay noted "double standards" against Palestine, especially by some member states, and stressed that "huge violations" historically occurred before Oct. 7 and blamed the occupation.
Asked about the report's finding "war crimes" against Palestinians and accountability, Pillay said there are more than "10,000 pieces of evidence" that relate to the "existence of proof of genocide."
"We dedicated to gathering evidence with the goal of ensuring accountability," she said, noting that "there is no other organ of the UN with an investigative mandate, and that the commission is “handicapped. We're not allowed inside the country."
Saying that there are ways and measures that the Security Council and the General Assembly can adopt when a member state does not comply, Pillay noted the case with South Africa and its membership being suspended until apartheid ended.
Chris Sidoti, a member of the commission, criticized Israel's decision to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) activities and noted only nine staff members were dismissed after Israel accused them of taking part in the Oct. 7 attacks
"That's more than the number of staff that the Israeli Defense Forces have dismissed for violations of international humanitarian laws such as war crimes and crimes against humanity," he said, adding that the Israeli army is far behind in "dealing with allegations and investigations of misconduct by employees."
Sidoti noted that UNRWA "has saved Israeli taxpayers billions of dollars over the last 57 years … because Israel, as the occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention, is responsible for the care, protection and the provision of services to persons under occupation."
"If UNRWA is kicked out, the cost for the Israeli taxpayer is going to be ginormous. So, this is a decision that is bad for the Palestinians and ridiculous for Israeli taxpayers," he added.