Israeli tanks close in on a Palestinian hospital. Doctors and medical staff are warned that they must leave — with or without patients in need. Artillery assaults follow, even if thousands of people are still inside.
On Monday, it was the turn of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza. At least 12 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the facility, even as armoured vehicles edge closer and closer to the hospital.
The real reason Israel targets hospitals is different, according to Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Doha-based Middle East Council on Global Affairs. It is a form of psychological warfare, he said.
“Attacking hospitals tells the population that nowhere for [Palestinians] is safe,” Rahman told Al Jazeera, adding that Israel acts with “total impunity”.
Tahani Mustafa, a senior Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the act of making Palestinians feel unsafe in every facility in the strip is to quell any form of resistance.
“This is part of a longstanding pattern of harassment of medical staff and services, in which Israel demonstrates to Palestinians that no one and no space is safe,” Mustafa told Al Jazeera.
“It is a systematic attempt to intimidate local populations and undermine their will to resist,” she added.
Throughout the war, Israel has targeted a number of ambulances and medical facilities in the West Bank and Gaza, claiming that Palestinian fighters use them to move around and shelter, without providing evidence for these claims, the analyst said.
@ISIDEWITH1yr1Y
Is it ever justifiable to target medical facilities as a strategy in conflicts, and where should the line be drawn?
@9H4WQC41yr1Y
as canada we should stand with palestine because what israel is doing is terorrism.
@9H4W25M1yr1Y
Depending on the war I feel as though anything shall go, just another target on the board as they try to takeover or dominate another country
@9H4VZK91yr1Y
It’s never justified if there are innocent civilians inside the facility
@ISIDEWITH1yr1Y
How does the targeting of hospitals reflect on our overall values regarding the sanctity of life and the rules of engagement in wartime?
@9H4MYZZ1yr1Y
This demonstrates a lack of regard for human life by Israel, and Canada's support for the state is against our supposed values as a nation.
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