Israeli Attacks on a Hospital in the Gaza Strip, State of Palestine

The Brazilian government expresses its strong condemnation of the Israeli forces' bombings on August 25 against the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, which killed at least 20 Palestinians—including journalists and humanitarian aid workers—and injured dozens of others.

Hospitals and medical units enjoy special protection under International Humanitarian Law, and attacks on such facilities may constitute war crimes, in accordance with the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. The bombing of the Nasser Hospital is part of a repeated pattern of violations perpetrated by the Government of Israel against the Palestinian population. Accountability for such acts is an essential condition to prevent their recurrence and ensure justice for the victims.

The Brazilian government urges the international community and the competent mechanisms of the United Nations to ensure an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation, in order to guarantee due accountability for these acts.

Reiterating its call for an immediate ceasefire, Brazil urges the Government of Israel to stop its attacks on the civilian population of Gaza, to ensure journalists the right to perform their work freely and safely, and to lift the current restrictions on the entry of international press professionals and humanitarian aid into that territory.