HRW: Israeli evidence so far insufficient to revoke Shifa's protections

Israel Defense Forces handout at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City

A member of Israel's army shows weapons and equipment which they say were found at Al Shifa hospital complex in the Gaza Strip, as seen in this screen grab taken from video released by the Israel Defense Forces on November 15, 2023. Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

Source: X80001

(Reuters) - Images released by Israel of weapons it says it soldiers found inside Gaza's biggest hospital are not sufficient to justify revoking the hospital's status as protected by the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

"Hospitals have special protections under international humanitarian law. Doctors, nurses, ambulances and other hospital staff must be permitted to do their work and patients must be protected," Human Rights Watch U.N. Director Louis Charbonneau told Reuters.

"Hospitals only lose those protections if it can be shown that harmful acts have been carried out from the premises. The Israeli government hasn’t provided any evidence of that."

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This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.

By Reuters