Israel is destroying Gaza’s health system, Sultan Barakat, a public policy professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, has told Al Jazeera, despite it being a clear violation of international law.

“In terms of monitoring and reporting on Israel’s abuse and infringement of international law, they are not getting away with it because several organisations are reporting on this,” he said, “Where they are getting away with it is at the [UN] Security Council.”

“It took just days to announce Russia as a state that has committed crimes for hitting one clinic in the past,” he added.

Barakat said what made the difference was “political will,” in particular that of the United States.

Speaking of Israel’s possible plans for the future of Gaza, Barakat said the military was likely to keep the northern portion of the Strip under occupation to “try and push Hamas as far away as possible from Tel Aviv”.

“This would be in their eyes the best option before they try to implement the better plan, which is pushing Palestinians into the Naqab [Negev] desert into Egypt,” he said.