Another Palestinian medic killed – Call on UK to finally take action
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Please urge the protection of Palestinian health workers
I am writing to express my serious concern about the recent killing of Gaza paramedic Mohammed al-Jedaili , the fifth Palestinian health worker to be killed by Israeli forces in just over a year, and the 44th since 2008. Mohammed was injured by Israeli forces while on duty at the “Great March of Return” demonstrations in Gaza on 3 May. He was hit in the face by a rubber-coated metal bullet which fractured his skull. He died on 10 June. According to the World Health Organization, between 30 March 2018 and 31 May 2019, more than 750 health workers in Gaza were also injured by Israeli forces. A UN Commission of Inquiry investigation into the protests in Gaza found that the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) is “one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a health worker”. More troubling still, the Commission’s investigation found “reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers intentionally shot health workers, despite seeing that they were clearly marked as such.” So far, nobody has been held accountable for these attacks. The Commission of Inquiry found that “the Government of Israel has consistently failed to meaningfully investigate and prosecute commanders and soldiers for crimes and violations committed against Palestinians.” Though the UK Government has “welcomed” Israel’s opening of criminal investigations into just 11 of more than 312 deaths in Gaza since the protests began, decades of impunity give little hope that these investigations will be effective, prompt, or lead to meaningful accountability. The killing of yet another Palestinian paramedic underlines how impunity fuels recurrence, and I am greatly concerned that the lives of Palestinian health workers continue to be in danger. I urge you to call on the UK Government to take meaningful action to protect Palestinian health workers, including by signing Early Day Motion 2604, “Health Workers in Gaza”, which calls on the UK Government to take diplomatic steps to ensure that medical workers in Gaza can perform their humanitarian functions without risk of attack and requests an investigation which complies with international standards of independence, impartiality, promptness, thoroughness, and transparency into the five Palestinian health workers killed since May 2018. I hope you will also seek other opportunities to raise this important issue with the UK Government, and I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
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