The Arab League has called on the International Criminal Court, or ICC, to include deliberate medical negligence against Palestinian detainees in ongoing investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territory.

In a statement published on Palestine’s Wafa News Agency by the Palestine and Occupied Arab Territories Sector of the Arab League’s General Secretariat, it condemned the medical neglect that led to the death of Abdul Rahman Sufian Muhammad al-Sabateen, 21, from Husan town west of Bethlehem.

Al-Sabateen died in an Israeli hospital on Dec 9 after his health deteriorated due to poor detention conditions.

The statement stressed that the Arab League regards Al-Sabatin’s death, the sixth Palestinian detainee killed in Israeli prisons since the beginning of this year, as “a new crime”.

It further denounced the deliberate medical negligence policy practiced by Israeli prison authorities against thousands of Palestinian detainees, including children, women, and the sick, describing it as a form of slow killing and internationally prohibited torture.

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In a similar case reported on Dec 11, Israeli authorities allegedly refused to allow a five-year-old child who needs a bone marrow transplant from the Gaza Strip, residing in Ramallah, to receive urgent treatment at a hospital in Israel, claiming his address is registered in Gaza.

An Israeli organization, representing the family, filed a petition with an Israeli court in Jerusalem, stating that the decision constitutes a flagrant violation of international and local laws related to human rights and healthcare.

The legal representatives emphasized that the Israeli authorities' decision to prevent the child from receiving life-saving treatment violates Israel's obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, as well as Israeli law.

Recently, the World Health Organization has called for more countries to step forward and accept patience and for the opening of all crossing for medical evacuation, particularly in the West Bank, as well as East Jerusalem.

On Dec 8, the WHO said it evacuated 25 patients and 92 companions from Gaza to Italy, Belgium, Norway, and Romania. More than 18,500 patients still require medical evacuation for advanced treatment unavailable in Gaza.

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The latest development is one of the recent reminders to Israel of its obligations under international law.

Israeli police had raided the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, compound in East Jerusalem early on Dec 8.

This drew condemnation from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who urged Israel to “immediately take all necessary steps to restore, preserve, and uphold the inviolability of UNRWA premises and to refrain from taking any further action with regard to these premises”.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X that the latest action “represents a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises”.

“To allow this represents a new challenge to international law, one that creates a dangerous precedent anywhere else the UN is present across the world, said Lazzarini.

Israel is a party to the Convention on the Privileges & Immunities of the UN – the international treaty that “makes UN premises inviolable –  in other words, immune from search and/or seizure –  and makes UN property and assets immune from legal process,” he said.

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Qatar and Jordan condemned the raids and warned that Israel’s systematic targeting of UNRWA ultimately aims to dismantle the agency and deprive millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon of its essential services.

Both urged the international community to stand firmly against this plan in order to prevent its catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

Israel has previously accused UNRWA of having links to Hamas, but UNRWA has repeatedly rejected these claims.

In August 2024, the UN Office of Oversight Services (OIOS) completed a probe after Israel alleged that several UNRWA personnel took part in the assault on its territory that saw some 1,200 people killed, and another 250 taken to Gaza as hostages. Nine UNRWA staff who may have been involved in the October attacks were dismissed.

In one case, no evidence was obtained by the OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff members’ involvement, according to the UN at the time.

UNRWA operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, providing education, aid, healthcare, social services, and shelter to millions of Palestinians since its establishment in December 1949.

Hadi Rahmat Purnama, an assistant professor of international law and chair of the Centre for International Law Studies at the Faculty of Law at Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta, told China Daily that the protection of Palestinian detainees mainly falls under the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

“Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories are regarded as ‘protected persons’ under this convention and are entitled to humane treatment and proper legal rights. Israel, as the occupying power, is bound by international law, notably humanitarian law and human rights law,” said Purnama.

“These systematic acts of ill-treatment by the Israeli government towards Palestinian detainees may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. The international community has a responsibility to ensure accountability for those responsible, including not only the state of Israel but also individuals accountable for these violations,” said Purnama.

Contact the writer at jan@chinadailyapac.com