UN Experts Accuse Israel of “Medicide” in Gaza, Demand Urgent Ceasefire and Accountability

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 7 October 2023 and 11 June 2025, there were 735 documented attacks on healthcare in Gaza.

A group of United Nations human rights experts has accused Israel of deliberately destroying Gaza’s healthcare system in what they describe as “medicide”—the systematic targeting of medical facilities, healthcare workers, and patients with the intent to eliminate healthcare access in the besieged enclave.

The statement, issued by Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, and Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, condemns what they call the intentional creation of conditions to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as part of a broader pattern of apartheid and potential genocide.

A Healthcare System Under Siege

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 7 October 2023 and 11 June 2025, there were 735 documented attacks on healthcare in Gaza. These attacks:

• Killed 917 people and injured 1,411.

• Affected 125 health facilities.

• Damaged 34 hospitals, further reducing the territory’s already fragile capacity to provide care.

The UN experts allege that these are not incidental damages from conflict but deliberate acts aimed at collapsing Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure. “Deliberate attacks on health and care workers, and health facilities, which are gross violations of international humanitarian law, must stop now,” they said.

Starvation and the Targeting of Health Workers

Health and care workers in Gaza face not only the danger of bombardment but also starvation, with the UN reporting that many have fainted on duty due to lack of food. This, the experts stress, is a violation of their own right to health and directly impairs their ability to care for patients.

“Health and care workers have been continuously targeted, detained, tortured and are now, like the rest of the population, being starved,” the statement reads. The deprivation of food and essential supplies, they say, constitutes collective punishment and a tool of war.

“Medicide” as a Component of Genocide

The Special Rapporteurs argue that the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system is not a byproduct of military operations but a calculated strategy. They link it to the broader claim of an ongoing genocide, framing it as a “sinister component” designed to eliminate the Palestinian population’s survival capacity.

“The disregard towards the crimes Israel continues to commit in Gaza sends a stark message to the world that the people of Gaza do not count and their life does not matter,” they said.

International Community’s Moral Responsibility

The experts condemned what they see as international inaction, accusing states of failing in their duty to prevent atrocities. They urged immediate global intervention to stop the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system and to protect civilians from further harm.

“There is a moral imperative for the international community to end the carnage and allow the people of Gaza to live on their land without fear of attack, killing, and starvation, and free from permanent occupation and apartheid,” the statement declared.

They called for:

• An immediate and unconditional ceasefire as the first step toward accountability.

• Preservation and restoration of what remains of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure.

• International legal action to hold Israel accountable for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

A Warning to the World

The Special Rapporteurs warned that continued impunity would embolden further violations and deepen the humanitarian catastrophe. They stressed that Palestinians in Gaza are being denied their right to dignity, existence, and basic survival, and that the situation represents one of the most urgent human rights crises in the world today.