Assault on Humanitarian Sanctuaries

Noureen Akhtar

The reports of an attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza’s Beit Lahia mark a deeply disturbing chapter in an already devastating conflict. Hospitals worldwide are understood as sanctuaries of humanity; that places to which the wounded, vulnerable, and desperate flock for respite and care. When one hears that a facility is under siege, being shelled allegedly with sniper fire and drones, one is jarringly reminded of how the erosion of norms can hold the very fragile semblance of humanity within the war at bay.

Hospitals, symbols of care and hope, have become targets, reflecting a grave erosion of international humanitarian norms.

Gaza’s Health Ministry condemned the bombardment described as “unprecedented,” reporting relentless strikes by tanks and explosives. To those inside Gaza, whose medical facilities have been already teetering on the edge of collapse, the assault does not symbolize only an attack on a building but on hope to survive. Destruction of health infrastructure in such a crowded region is not simply a matter of collateral damage but a blow to an entire population’s ability to get through the day, let alone rebuild for tomorrow.

The Israel Defense Forces claim not to know anything about strikes on Kamal Adwan Hospital, while operations in Beit Lahia allegedly took place at a time when people are becoming increasingly afraid that no part of Gaza is safe anymore. Such denial or misunderstanding for the second time around, in yet another conflict, can hardly bring solace to those suffering on the ground. It brings to mind an entire pattern in which responsibility is shunted and violence allowed to go unchecked on innocent civilians. If the hospital, an international protection site, could be hit this way and utterly destroyed, what good faith remains that the rest of the world will stand by its promise to enforce those protections?

Healthcare centers are not only a strategic blow but carry deep psychological and social connotations. For the patients as well as the medical workers, hospitals are not just buildings; they are personifications of care, hope, and continuity in the midst of mayhem. Strikes on these institutions disrupt the moral compass of any society and go deep into fracturing the collective psyche of the people who survive the ordeal. How can civilians believe any words of safety when the places meant to protect life turn into targets of violence?

The destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure threatens survival and undermines future recovery.

Furthermore, this places us squarely in front of the bigger crisis in Gaza in terms of humanitarian needs. To the best of its capability, Gaza’s health care system was partially destroyed to the extent due to years of blockade, resource shortage, and wars. Each and every single hospital that falls is a crisis unbearable on its own. In the northern Gaza Strip, few buildings were operational, including Kamal Adwan Hospital. Quite possibly some of the most extraordinary destruction in recent weeks has occurred here. Neutralization cannot be underestimated in how it exerts incredibly tremendous pressure on a system that is already greatly strained and threatening the lives of hundreds while preventing doctors and nurses from doing their jobs.

Even more disheartening is the fact that the international community may either remain totally silent or markedly blunt their response to such occurrences. It is not more condemnation or even these forms of concern that the world now requires, or gets over, itself after failing to stop such a disaster. The responsibility to account for those involved in an attack on healthcare facilities as a moral grounding for international humanitarian law but transcends global politics. It is much too frequently a focus on discussions of referent. Objectives concerns and preoccupation with battles and security discourses: It avoids the essence that is human suffering.

The real extent of mobilizing inspired by the Kamal Adwan Hospital attack is that it called the attention of the world. This obliges society to face its collective conscience while forcing society to ask searching questions about the efficiency of the mechanism that society entrusts to safeguard the vulnerable. Should hospitals themselves not be safe, then what has happened to the principles on which the structure of the international law is based? How many more disasters will it take before this becomes the norm for disregarding the lives of people with disastrous outcomes in other conflicts?

Without accountability, attacks like the one on Kamal Adwan Hospital set a dangerous precedent for global conflicts.

This is a moment that needs more than words; it needs concerted action. Neutrals, humanitarians, and the powers in place must place above everything else the protection of civilians and their infrastructure. This is not an exception to what happened to Kamal Adwan. It is a horrific example of what happens when humanity begins crossing red lines without penalty. The world that will tolerate this is a complicit world that allows itself to deteriorate in its values.

The Author is a PhD Scholar (SPIR-QAU) and has worked on various public policy issues as a Policy Consultant in the National Security Division (NSD), Prime Minister Office (PMO). Currently, she is communication head and editor Stratheia and works for Islamabad Policy Research Institution (IPRI) as a Non-Resident Policy Research Consultant. Her work has been published in local and International publications. She can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/noureen-akhtar-188502253/  and akhtarnoureen26@gmail.com  She Tweets @NoureenAkhtar16