Category Archives: Israel

Medical Experts Have A Grim New Term For Targeted Attacks On Healthcare In War

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Medical experts have come up with a new term to describe deliberate, systematic attacks on health services as acts of war: healthocide.

Medical practitioners have called for their fellow medics within the international community to call out this weaponisation of health and healthcare, which they believe undermines international humanitarian law.

And silence could suggest complicity, Dr Joelle Abi-Rached and colleagues of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon warned in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.

The authors pointed to the suffering seen in Gaza and Lebanon right now as examples of healthocide.

They pointed out that since Israel began its military offensive in Gaza on October 8, 2023 – following the Hamas attack the day before – an estimated 217 health workers have been killed by the Israeli Defence Forces.

Amid 68 attacks on hospitals, 177 ambulances were damaged and 237 attacks on emergency medical services took place, according to data from Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

A further 986 medical workers have died since the war began.

The authors noted: “Both in Gaza and Lebanon, healthcare facilities have not only been directly targeted, but access to care has also been obstructed, including incidents where ambulances have been prevented from reaching the injured, or deliberately attacked.

“What is becoming clear is that healthcare workers and facilities are no longer afforded the protection guaranteed by international humanitarian law.”

They called for doctors to speak out, warning: “Medical neutrality is not ‘apolitical’; for us it means standing with humanity, social justice, and health-enabling policies.”

The experts also said attacks on healthcare providers have become normalised in recent years – but the ongoing conflicts have seen such strikes evolve into “the deliberate killing and/or destruction of health services and systems for ideological purposes.”

They also suggested healthocide could be taking place in El Salvador, Ukraine, Sudan and Syria.

Fears that not speaking out about wars, like that seen in Gaza, is akin to complicity have been rising lately.

Earlier this month, Tory MP Kit Malthouse warned that foreign secretary David Lammy could “end up at The Hague because of his inaction” over the war.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, an estimated 180 people have died so far from famine and malnutrition, including 93 children.

A total of 60,933 people in Gaza have been killed since the war began.

Back in April, Israel denied deliberately targeting a Palestinian hospital, suggesting it was targeting a “command and control centre used by Hamas” instead.

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Kemi Badenoch Says She Believes Israel Is Allowing Humanitarian Aid Into Gaza

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Kemi Badenoch has insisted she believes Israel is still getting humanitarian aid into Gaza despite growing fears of famine.

The Tory leader’s remarks come amid growing concerns that people in the Palestinian territory are facing mass starvation due Israel’s blockade of relief.

More than 100 non-governmental organisations issued a statement this week saying the “Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families”.

Israel did announce over the weekend that it would allow airdrops of relief into the Palestinian territory, and promised it would implement a “tactical pause” in its military operation in three parts of Gaza to help ease the humanitarian crisis.

But speaking to Sky News this morning, the Tory leader suggested her support for Israel had not wavered despite the international community’s fears.

Presenter Trevor Phillips asked for Badenoch’s reaction to Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof’s claim that Israel has been “lying” about the food crisis in Gaza.

She said: “I disagree with that. What I am seeing is Israel allowing humanitarian aid to go in. This has been an unbelievably difficult situation, it’s been heartbreaking seeing some of those pictures, hearing some of those stories.

“What we allow want to see is this awful war coming to an end. And that will happen when those hostages are released and we get a ceasefire.”

Phillips asked: “Have those pictures at all led your pretty much unwavering support for Israel to waver?”

“No, no. War is a difficult situation,” she replied. “What I see when I see Israel is a country that is trying to defend itself, mostly from Iran and a lot of its proxies – Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. I think they’re in a very difficult situation.

“And what worries me is the length of time this war has been going on makes it very difficult for the people in Palestinian territories and also for Israel, we need to bring things to an end.”

Phillips pointed out that polling suggests Brits are moving away from supporting Israel, to which the Tory leader said she is “somebody who believes in looking at what’s actually happening”.

“The right thing is for there to a ceasefire. A lot of people are suffering on both sides, but we must’n’t forget how this started,” she claimed.

“On October 7, a massacre occurred. It was an act of war. There are still people who are being held hostage and they need to be brought home.

“All of this could be brought to an end, except that those territories are being run by a terrorist organisation. We cannot allow it to go on.”

Asked if there was anything Israel is doing which she would not support, the leader of the opposition said that Israel has a “responsibility to make sure aid gets through.”

But she noted: “I also know that allowing a terrorist organisation to win is not going to be safe, not just for Israel, but for the rest of the world.

“This is how they get incubated. And then 10, 15, 20 years’ time, the rest of us suffer for it. We need to bring this sort of terrorism to an end.”

Existing tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians soared when Palestinian militants Hamas killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil and took a further 251 people hostage.

Israel declared war and imposed a blockade on Gaza while also launching missile strikes across the territory.

According to the local Hamas-run health ministry, more than 61,000 people have died in Gaza since the conflict began.

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#TrevorPhillips: What’s your reaction to Bob Geldof’s accusation that the Israelis are lying about the situation in Gaza?

Kemi Badenoch: \"I disagree with that. What I’m seeing is Israel allowing humanitarian aid to go in… \" pic.twitter.com/n5RDTXrTDA

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) July 27, 2025

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What I’m seeing is Israel allowing humanitarian aid to go in… \" pic.twitter.com/n5RDTXrTDA— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) July 27, 2025\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1949386782648250368/pu/img/TTstSqZs8c80N2Ss.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1152,"title":"Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 on Twitter / 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#TrevorPhillips: What’s your reaction to Bob Geldof’s accusation that the Israelis are lying about the situation in Gaza?

Kemi Badenoch: “I disagree with that. What I’m seeing is Israel allowing humanitarian aid to go in… ” pic.twitter.com/n5RDTXrTDA

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) July 27, 2025

Labour minister James Murray also told Sky News that the UK would recognise a Palestine state, describing it as a case of “when not if”. However, he refused to put a clear timeline on it.

It comes after French president Emmanuel Macron confirmed he would formally announce Palestine statehood in September.

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