Dr. Feroze Sidhwa on Israel's "Outrageous" Attacks on Gaza Hospitals and Healthcare Workers

Attacks on Healthcare Facilities in Gaza

• 🏥 The World Health Organization reports that 94% of hospitals in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.
• 🎯 Attacks on healthcare facilities worldwide have increased, with a quarter of all such attacks in 2024 occurring in Gaza.
• 💔 Israel frequently justifies these attacks by accusing Hamas of militarizing healthcare facilities.

Personal Account of Hospital Attack

• 👨‍⚕️ Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon, recounts operating on a 16-year-old patient, Ibrahim, who was later killed when his hospital room was hit by an Israeli drone-fired missile.
• 🎯 The stated target was another patient, Ismile Boom, whom Israel claimed was Hamas's prime minister in Gaza, a justification deemed illegal under international law.
• 💥 The firing of explosive weapons into a surgical ward packed with patients and staff is described as a war crime due to the disregard for international law and precautions.

Violations of International Law

• ⚖️ International law, specifically the Geneva Conventions, protects wounded combatants receiving treatment in hospitals and prohibits attacks on healthcare facilities.
• 🤥 Dr. Sidhwa states that every attack on a healthcare facility in Gaza has been justified by a willful misunderstanding or outright lies about international law.
• 🚑 The killing of 15 paramedics and a UN worker near Rafah, initially justified by Israel as an attack on approaching Hamas militants, was later revealed to be false based on video evidence.

Call for Accountability and Peace

• 🚫 Dr. Sidhwa argues that it is illegal to continue arming human rights abusers like Israel.
• 🇺🇸 He calls for the United States to be a country where the law matters and to apply its laws to itself, rather than supporting chronic human rights abusers.
• 🕊️ A ceasefire that does not include lifting the blockade of Gaza is not a step towards peace but rather a continuation of suffering, akin to a "piece of the graveyard."