al Jazeera:
Why is Israel targeting Palestinian hospitals?
Six weeks into its war on Gaza, Israel’s attacks on hospitals have emerged almost as a motif of the conflict. At least 21 of Gaza’s 35 hospitals – including the Strip’s solo cancer centre – are completely out of service, and others have been damaged and are short of medicines and essential supplies.
Commentator Taghreed El-Khodary said that Israel “convinced” the world that al-Shifa Hospital was the headquarters of Hamas because it was the easiest route for them to invade Gaza.
“They know it is the safest part to go and impose a kind of military headquarters for them in Gaza City. They couldn’t come from the east. Now this is what they’re doing, going to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya to also impose another headquarters for them to attack and kill more civilians,” El-Khodary told Al Jazeera.
According to Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Doha-based Middle East Council on Global Affairs, this is a form of psychological warfare.
“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 Gaza Strip is to quell any form of resistance.
“This is part of a long-standing 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.
Commentator Taghreed El-Khodary said that Israel “convinced” the world that al-Shifa Hospital was the headquarters of Hamas because it was the easiest route for them to invade Gaza.
“They know it is the safest part to go and impose a kind of military headquarters for them in Gaza City. They couldn’t come from the east. Now this is what they’re doing, going to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya to also impose another headquarters for them to attack and kill more civilians,” El-Khodary told Al Jazeera.
According to Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Doha-based Middle East Council on Global Affairs, this is a form of psychological warfare.
“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 Gaza Strip is to quell any form of resistance.
“This is part of a long-standing 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.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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