Israel's Post-War Healthcare Obligations

Abstract

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, the healthcare infrastructure within Gaza has been dismantled. While international humanitarian law mandates distinction between lawful targets (combatants and military objectives) and non-lawful targets (civilians and civilian objects), and acknowledging the inherent complexities of applying this principle in conflicts involving non-state actors like Hamas operating within civilian areas, numerous reports indicate that Israel's actions have resulted in significant and foreseeable consequences for the Gazan civilian population. Due to these substantial and foreseeable harms, which have led to a long-term humanitarian crisis, we argue that the Israeli government bears a moral responsibility to help mitigate the long-term humanitarian crisis, which, at a minimum, requires helping to rebuild the healthcare infrastructure to its status quo ante bellum.

Keywords: bioethics; ethics; healthcare just war theory; war.