Protection of Medical Personnel and Health Facilities in the 2023 Palestinian-Israeli Armed Conflict in the Perspective of International Humanitarian Law and Marx's Conflict Theory

Abstract

Protecting health facilities and medical personnel in the war between Palestine and Israel is a daunting task with all the consequences and death threats that can occur. There have been several cases of attacks on hospitals and doctors being shot dead in Gaza City. The purpose of this study is to analyze the protection of health facilities and the rights of medical personnel on the battlefield, especially in the conflict between Palestine and Israel in the perspective of International Humanitarian Law, and analyze the causes of violations of the protection of health facilities and the rights of medical personnel. The methods used are doctrinal and hermeneutic methods with data collection techniques, namely documentation which is analyzed or interpreted. This research uses international legal theory, namely the theory of international humanitarian law and human rights theory, as well as conflict theory to explain the causes of human rights violations despite the existence of international humanitarian law. The results of this study prove that there are still many violations of international humanitarian law, especially the 1949 Geneva Convention regarding legal protection for health facilities and medical personnel on the battlefield. This is due to the conflict of interest between countries or ethnicities where both the state and ethnic Israelis and Palestinians feel threatened by the existence of the other. Capitalist orientation also exacerbates ethnic class differences and creates power imbalances. Economic motives to compete for territory, natural resources and power are also very easy to trigger violations of non-combatant rights including health facilities and medical personnel.