Israel has launched a criminal investigation into the killing of Palestinian paramedics in Gaza last year, amid continuing allegations that health workers have been deliberately targeted in the conflict.

Medical personnel and facilities are afforded special protection during war, with the Geneva Conventions requiring that they be “respected and protected in all circumstances”; although that protection can be lost if they are used outside their humanitarian role to commit acts harmful to the enemy.

Some 1700 health workers have been killed since the conflict began in October 2023, according to the UN, which has accused Israel of deliberately killing medical personnel under a “concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system”. 

Israel has rubbished the allegations and denied that it had targeted medical personnel, saying Hamas has frequently used medical facilities for terror operations.