The Israel severely criticized today, characterizing them “scandalous”, his research conclusions UNaccording to which he deliberately pursues to destroy the health system in the Gaza Stripand mistreats Palestinian prisoners.

Last Thursday, the UN’s International Independent Commission of Inquiry (CoI) estimated in its report that “Israel is implementing a coordinated policy of destruction of the health system in Gaza” in the context of the war it is waging against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

The Commission assessed that these “incessant and deliberate” attacks by Israel “against medical personnel” amount to “a war crime and the crime against humanity of extermination.”

In a lengthy statement issued today, the Israeli delegation to the UN in Geneva categorically rejected these accusations.

“This report is a new blatant attempt on the part of the CoI to delegitimize the very presence of the State of Israel and obstruct its right to protect its people by concealing the crimes of terrorist organizations,” the Israeli embassy said.

“This report shamelessly presents Israel’s operations on terrorist-infested health infrastructure in Gaza as a strategy against the health system, completely ignoring the overwhelming evidence that medical facilities in Gaza are routinely used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad for terrorist activities,” the statement added.

Israel has also rejected accusations of widespread and systematic ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners, which constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity.

“Israel remains fully committed to its international legal obligations regarding the treatment of detainees,” the statement stressed, adding that “this includes the prohibition of the use of excessive force and ill-treatment.”

At the same time, Israel accused the Commission of creating an “alternative reality”, thereby contributing to the “exacerbation of this conflict”.

“We call on states to denounce this discriminatory approach, which only further tarnishes the credibility of the Human Rights Council and the UN as a whole,” the statement concluded.

The CoI consists of three independent experts and was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international law in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

This report is the second published by the Commission since the attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023.