Country: occupied Palestinian territory Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Please refer to the attached files. A New Report by PCHR Holds Israel Responsible for Deterioration of Kidney Failure Patients’ Health Conditions in Gaza and Death of 41% of ThemA new report issued by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) today, Tuesday, 20 May 2025, has revealed that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have committed, during their aggression on the Gaza Strip that started in October 2023, acts amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity that have claimed the lives of 472 out of 1200 kidney failure patients, (around 41% of the total kidney patients). Moreover, 78 dialysis machines have been destroyed, depriving patients of lifesaving treatment.The report titled “Kidney Failure Patients Without Healthcare” has emphasized that the military siege and raids of hospitals and killing and arrest of medical personnel and patients alongside the destruction of medical equipment and devices and blocking the entry of fuel supplies necessary for the operation of hospitals constitute serious violations of the international humanitarian law. According to the report, such violations amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Additionally, these acts are related to what is prohibited under paragraphs (b) and (c) of Article II of the Genocide Convention, which forbid “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”The report also clarifies that 6 out of 7 specialized dialysis centers had been massively destroyed or forced out of service, including four centers in Gaza City and North Gaza while the remaining two in southern and central Gaza Strip. The report also points out that 62 dialysis machines remain operational but at decreased capacity after 78 machines had been destroyed, reducing the services provided to patients to the half amid severe shortages of medicine and medical consumables.The report highlights that the highest number of deaths among kidney failure patients occurred in Gaza City and northern Gaza where IOF raided and destroyed dialysis centers. As a result, patients’ dialysis sessions were repeatedly interrupted for long periods, further deteriorating their health conditions and leading to the death of many patients. The report sheds light on the suffering of dialysis patients who were forcibly displaced to the southern and central Gaza Strip in search of healthcare. It also includes testimonies from families of patients who died because of the drastic reduction in dialysis hours—from 12 hours to only 4 hours per week. The report also highlights testimonies from other patients sharing their struggle to access one dialysis session weekly under catastrophic conditions.The report points out that there are 728 kidney failure patients in the Gaza Strip, distributed across four dialysis centers: 280 patients at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, 50 patients at al-Zawayda Field Hospital, 260 patients at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, and 138 patients at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.The report holds the Israeli authorities fully responsible for the deterioration of the health conditions of kidney failure patients in the Gaza Strip and the deaths of hundreds. As the occupying power, Israel is bound to clear legal obligations under Geneva conventions to provide healthcare to the civilian population. The report considers these acts as part of a broader pattern of crimes being committed since 07 October 2023, during which Israeli leaders have called for “the extermination of the Gaza Strip population.”In its recommendations, the report has called on the international community to intervene immediately to stop the crime of genocide and allow the flow of medicines, medical consumables, and dialysis machines. It also calls for providing effective alternatives that ensure the continuous provision of dialysis service for kidney failure patients, including allowing them to travel abroad for treatment.