A/HRC/42/CRP.1 parties to the conflict hitting medical facilities, ambulances and personnel. Medical facilities were also damaged due to fighting in their vicinity. The use of hospitals for military purposes further impeded access to healthcare in Aden in 2015 (for details, see Chapter on the Battle of Aden (March – July 2015). In al-Hudaydah city, the Group investigated how the 22 May Hospital was occupied and then destroyed by the Houthis in November 2018 (for more details see chapter on the Battle of al-Hudaydah (2018-2019). The Group of Experts documented further incidents that took place in 2018-2019, such as the partial destruction of a maternity unit and childcare centre, in al-Durayhimi city, alHudaydah Governorate, following a coalition airstrike on 11 October 2018 (for details see chapter on the battle of al-Hudaydah). In Sa’dah governorate, the Group of Experts investigated a coalition airstrike that struck a shop in close proximity to the Kitaf rural hospital, a facility supported by Save the Children, on 26 March 2019 (for details, see chapter on life in Sana’a and other areas under the control of the de facto authorities). 765. In Ta’izz, the Group of Experts documented continuous damage to medical facilities caused by the fighting (for details see chapter on Ta’izz). One of the city’s main public hospitals, al-Thawrah Hospital, situated in the northeast of the city, was repeatedly hit by shelling and shooting, particularly in 2015. The hospital reported that these attacks resulted in the killing of an ambulance staff member on 20 April 2015,1223 the injury of patients on 11 November 2015, and damage to different parts of the building and staff quarters, including: the intensive care unit on 26 April 2015,1224 the dental and paediatric departments on 5 May 2015, the burns and surgery department on 20 June 2015, and the operations department on 25 October 2015.1225 The hospital has continued to provide free medical care throughout the conflict “within the limits available”. 1226 Al-Mudhaffar Hospital, in al-Ashrafia area of the city of Ta’izz, sustained serious damage from a large fire on 23 March 2019 that occurred during heavy confrontations between the Abu alAbbas battalions and the Yemeni armed forces.1227 Reportedly, a gunman affiliated with the Government, positioned in a house located in front of the hospital, had hit the hospital diesel fuel tanks.1228 (a) Legal conclusions 766. Medical facilities are specifically protected under international humanitarian law. Along with medical personnel, medical units and transport must be respected and protected at all times. Their use for military purposes may already violate the special protection to which medical units are entitled.1229 They must not be the object of attack, as long as they are not used to commit acts harmful to the enemy. In such case, they may become legitimate military objectives and lose their protection after the issuance of an unheeded warning.1230 Intentionally directing attacks against protected medical units is a war crime in non-international armed conflicts.1231 767. The Group of Experts has reasonable grounds to believe that the specific protection of medical units has been violated by all parties to the conflict, through the use of such facilities for military purposes, the lack of precautions to avoid damage to these units, indiscriminate attacks and attacks that may have been directed at such units. Such indiscriminate attacks and attacks directed at medical facilities may lead to individual criminal responsibility for war crimes. 5. Blockades and siege-like warfare 1223 Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. 1225 Confidential Sources on File; see also Mwatana, “Chapter from Hell.” 1226 Confidential Sources on File. 1227 Confidential Sources on File. 1228 Confidential Sources on File. 1229 See ICRC Study on customary IHL, rule 28. 1230 Art. 11 Additional Protocol II. 1231 Article 8(2)(e)(ii) and (iv) Rome Statute. 1224 183