Abstract:
International Humanitarian Law (IHL), specifically Article 18 of the IV Geneva Convention, affords special protection to civilian hospitals. This special protection is waived, however, under certain circumstances specified in Article 19. Such conditions to waive the special protection of hospitals are now being used by Israel to justify the attack on civilian hospitals and healthcare institutions in Gaza. This paper critically evaluates Article 19 and the conditions for the removal of the immunity of hospitals in general and in the specific case of Gaza. The substance and language of Article 19 are found to be flawed in this case. The paper thus argues that Article 19 should be revised to better reflect the special protection hospitals generally and in Gaza specifically should have.

About the Speaker:
Dr Zohar Lederman
Clinical Practitioner, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine
Research Fellow, Centre for Medical Ethics and Law
HKU

Dr Lederman is Research Fellow at the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, as well as Clinical Practitioner at the Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong. He started his medical career as a volunteer emergency medical technician in Israel. He then finished medical school in Italy, internships in both Italy and Israel, and an emergency medicine residency at a level 1 trauma centre in Israel.

He is passionate about the science and ethics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, social medicine and the ethics of emergency medicine in general. An avid educator with lots of experience in writing and conducting clinical simulations for medical students and residents, Dr Lederman brings his expertise and dedication to the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Emergency Medicine.

Subscribe to our centre:
To stay connected, please subscribe to us by filling out this form.