Istanbul: The Gaza Tribunal's final session continued Friday at Istanbul University, with powerful expert testimony asserting that Israel deliberately dismantled Gaza's health care and public health systems as part of a larger policy of "mass harm to civilians."
According to Anadolu Agency, doctors and humanitarian specialists detailed what they described as systematic attacks on medical workers, hospitals, water systems, and the basic means of civilian survival. During Friday morning's panel titled "Targeting of Civilians and Civilian Infrastructure-Medical Systems," four medical professionals, including International President of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, Turkish physician Dr. Taner Kamaci, Norwegian emergency doctor and professor Dr. Mads Gilbert, and UK-based systemic psychotherapist and trainer Gwyn Daniel, presented evidence from the past two years of the Gaza war, calling for international accountability.
Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, a British emergency physician and humanitarian with MSF, testified that Gaza's hospitals and health workers were not merely collateral victims of conflict but the direct targets of a systematic strategy. He noted staggering casualties among medical personnel and directly cited incidents communicated to Israeli authorities in advance, including the November 2023 strike on Al-Awda Hospital. Abdelmoneim also described the detention and disappearance of medical personnel, referencing the Oct. 26 arrest of Dr. Abou-Jaida, who he said remains in prison without charge.
Stressing that public health failures were engineered, Abdelmoneim provided examples to back up his claim. He urged the panel to treat these medical stories as legal evidence, concluding with a stark indictment that the genocide is far from over.
Dr. Taner Kamaci, speaking as a Turkish health official who worked inside Gaza, described health care conditions as a complete breakdown of protection for civilians. Kamaci shared firsthand accounts of surgery without anesthesia and patients dying in hallways due to a total shortage of surgical capacity. He framed the war as an outright assault on humanity.
Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian emergency physician who has worked in Gaza for decades, broadened the timeline of alleged violations, describing a long-documented pattern of Israeli attacks on hospitals and health workers. Gilbert testified to the systematic nature of the attacks and highlighted dramatic collapses in public health indicators. He condemned the silence of Western medical institutions but affirmed the perseverance of Palestinian health workers.
Gwyn Daniel, a systemic family therapist based in the UK, addressed the psychological collapse in Gaza, describing conditions as 'an ongoing genocide.' She argued that ethical mental health responses must confront the political causes of suffering and emphasized the courage of Palestinian professionals who continue working.
Quoting the latest report from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, Daniel concluded that Gaza continues to pulse with life despite the pain, urging the international community to remain alongside it.