ISTANBUL

Witnesses on Friday told the final session of the international forum Gaza Tribunal in Istanbul that Israeli forces during the Gaza genocide "deliberately" targeted and attacked medical personnel and hospitals.

The ongoing tribunal, held at Istanbul University from Thursday to Sunday, has been documenting what survivors and experts describe as systematic violations of international law.

Fares Afanah, the director of emergency and medical services in Gaza, recounted how his son died during a rescue mission in Gaza, according to an interview video released by Witness Eye during the final session of the tribunal.

“I never expected one day to go and find my son Baraa in this scene, cut off by this brutal occupation that is a crime against our Palestinian people,” Afanah said.

He described how Baraa, along with Hussein Muhaysen, the former director of emergency services in Gaza, and another paramedic, Wael Attar, responded to a call about injured civilians.

“They went, they called for humanity so that the wounded would be rescued. When they came to this place, the second floor was occupied, ... so they climbed to the third floor and found a whole family between a martyr and a wounded man.

“When they immediately transported the injured, they said the Israeli occupation fired a shot at the room where these heroes, the wounded, Baraa, Hussein, and Wael, were.”

Afanah’s testimony painted a grim picture of the dangers faced by first responders, describing how a fourth injured man survived only because he was outside the targeted room.

“Even though these are scenes that break hearts and bleed hearts, it was a shock for me to see my son Baraa, and to see my fellow heroes, who we fought alongside, during this period of occupation,” he added.

'They were torturing them'

Fadya Malhis, a longtime healthcare worker in Gaza, provided a broader context, highlighting the systematic targeting of medical personnel.

Malhis cited arrests, killings, and torture of doctors, including Dr. Iyad Al-Rantisi, Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Dr. Ahmed Al-Muhanna, and Dr. Sirin Al-Attar, noting that many other doctors are still imprisoned or have been killed along with family members.

She also challenged claims by Israeli authorities regarding tunnels under Gaza’s largest hospital Al-Shifa, describing the hospital’s history and layout, emphasizing its impossibility for resistance operations, saying: “Al-Shifa hospital was already established in the 80s, ... how can the resistance do tunnels under the hospital? It’s impossible, impossible.”

She detailed how staff were forced to move patients under harsh conditions, often for the benefit of media inspections: “They were torturing them, they were making them move the patients from one ward to another, they didn't give them water or anything, except when they wanted a foreign press to enter, … so there was a lot of silence, and torture for the staff, in a very cruel way.”

Gaza Tribunal

The four-day public session marks the culmination of a year-long effort by international jurists, scholars, and civil society figures to document alleged crimes committed against Palestinians.

The tribunal featured Friday expert presentations and eye-witness testimonies on starvation, ecocide, domicide, and the targeting of civilians and public infrastructure, including the healthcare and education systems.

Presided over by Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, the tribunal aims to produce a comprehensive “people’s record” of what participants describe as genocide, apartheid, and systemic violations of international law in Gaza.

The tribunal’s jury of conscience includes Kenize Mourad, Christine Chinkin, Chandra Muzaffar, Ghada Karmi, Sami Al-Arian, and Biljana Vankovska.