Pro-Palestine protesters condemn Israel’s targeting of hospitals, medical workers

January 6, 2025

Issue

Targeting health care workers is a war crime, Naarm/Melbourne, January 5. Photo: Chloe DS

At the weekly protests in Naarm/Melbourne and Gadigal Country/Sydney on January 5 against Israel’s genocide, Israel was condemned for its attack on the Kamal Adwan hospital and the arbitrary arrest and detention of its director.

January 5 was the 457th day of Israel’s latest genocidal assault.

About 1000 people protested for Palestine in an energising rally on January 5 in Gadigal Country/Sydney. Pro-Palestine rallies have continued every Sunday there for the past 15 months.

Rachel Evans reports that speakers said that the Israel-Lebanon “ceasefire” had been violated by Israel more than 1000 times in 60 days, with drones, bombings and troop incursions.

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We demand a ceasefire, Gadigal Country/Sydney, January 5

The Palestine Action Group has announced that the protest will join the Invasion Day rally on January 26, which starts at 10am at Belmore Park.

Kamala Emanuel reports that 200 people joined a health workers’ vigil on January 3 in Magan-djin/Brisbane.

Speaking about Israel’s assault on the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, health care worker Yassmin Khadra told the crowd that “this is not just an attack on one hospital, but an attack on the very principles of humanity, justice and the sanctity of health care”.

“This vigil is not just a moment to grieve, it is a call to action,” Khadra said, calling for justice and for Israel to be made accountable for its war crimes.

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Health care workers vigil, Magan-djin/Brisbane, January 3. Photo: Kamala Emanuel

Peter Curtis reported on that police used violence against the peaceful January 3 pro-Palestine protest in Ngunnawal/Canberra.

“Since the beginning of the occupation the weekly march always proceeds down Bunda Street,” Curtis reported, saying this was the usual route taken “without incident and accompanied by police”.

This time, police started “shouting into our faces to move off the road” and attempted to block people’s passage.

“We refused and continued to proceed up the street as we always have.”

Chloe DS reports that despite 40°C heat, thousands gathered to hear speakers talk up anti-genocide, anti-occupation and anti-apartheid messages before marching for Palestine in the first protest of 2025.

It was the 65th week of protest in Naarm/Melbourne.

A speaker from Australian Nurses and Midwives for Palestine urged medical professionals to demand all ties be severed as a “concrete way” to denounce “Israel’s full destruction of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza”.

She condemned the attack on the Kamal Adwan hospital and the arbitrary arrest and detention of its director Dr Hussam Abu Safia.

Safia has reportedly been detained at the Sde Teiman base, located in the Negev desert near the border with the Gaza Strip, after defying evacuation orders and refusing to leave his patients.

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Photo: Chloe DS

She said Israel’s actions were part of a pattern to “continue to bombard, destroy and fully annihilate the right to health in Gaza”.

She said health workers are not legitimate targets for attack and have special protections under international health and humanitarian law. They cannot be legitimately detained for undertaking their work.

Attacks on healthcare workers, hospitals and health facilities, including ambulances, contravene the fundamental rights of individuals to access essential healthcare services. This is a war crime, under the fourth Geneva Convention’s definition, she said.

Addressing her colleagues in Palestine, she said she was ashamed at medical leaders for abdicating their responsibility to uphold medical ethics. “They have failed to speak up in solidarity or condemn Israel's war crimes against you and your community. But we will not abandon you.”

Iman and Khatib, Mohamed Al Jibaly and Palestinian engineer and activist Basil El-Ghattis also addressed the protest.

Australian Palestine Action Network president Nasser Mashni reminded the crowd that the Palestinians remain “unconquered and undefeated”.

He quoted lifelong anti-war activist AJ Muste who, during the Vietnam War, stood in front of the White House every night with a candle.

A reporter asked him on a rainy night: “Do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night in front of the White House with a candle?”

Muste replied: “Oh, I don’t do this to change the country. I do this so the country won’t change me.”