12 February 2019
The UK must demand accountability for attacks on Palestinian health workers.
Health workers are again being killed and injured in Gaza. Please join Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in calling for the UK to take urgent action to ensure they are protected.
Since 30 March 2018, at least 250 Palestinians have been killed and 6,000 injured with live ammunition amid Israel’s use of force against “Great March of Return” protestors in Gaza.
Among the casualties, three health workers - Musa Abu-Hassanin, Razan al-Najjar and Abdallah al-Qutati - have been shot dead by Israeli forces while trying to reach, treat and evacuate wounded demonstrators. A further 600 health workers have been injured.
Musa, Razan and Abdallah are just the latest fatalities from within the Palestinian healthcare system which has suffered repeated attacks, carried out with impunity for more than a decade. In Israel’s military offensives on Gaza between 2008 and 2014, 39 Palestinian health workers were killed, and 147 healthcare centres and 80 ambulances damaged or destroyed.
Next month at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva the UN Commission of Inquiry investigating potential violations of international law in the context of the protests in Gaza will report. Member States, including the UK, have an important opportunity to ensure that any wrongdoers are held to account, including for attacks on health workers.
The UK has frequently stated that health workers everywhere must be protected from attack – now is the time for them to put those words into action in Gaza.
Please write to your MP using the tool below, asking them to table and, if secured, attend a Westminster Hall debate on “pursuing justice and accountability in the occupied Palestinian territory”, on 5 or 6 March.
For the debate, please ask your MP to call on the UK Government to take action at the UN Human Rights Council to ensure accountability for attacks on Palestinian health workers, and to increase support to Gaza’s overwhelmed and under-resourced health system with a focus on sustainable development.
Please add your street address at the bottom of the email to help your MP to respond.
Not based in the UK? We will be running other actions on accountability soon.
