I heard that Israeli military forces blew up a hospital in the Gaza Strip. It was a single facility for cancer treatment there.
What a terrible act….But this is not the first time I heard such news from the Gaza strip
Yes, you are right. Since October 2023, the WHO has verified 654 attacks on healthcare facilities in the Gaza Strip. This caused 886 fatalities and 1,349 injuries (as of 3 Jan 2025).
Last month, an ambulance was deliberately targeted, killing 15 rescue workers.
It sounds horrible. Is there global data regarding healthcare attacks?
According to the WHO Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) data, the number of total attacks worldwide was 1,624 in 2024. 44% of them occurred in the Occupied Palestinian territory.
There are many different kinds of “Attack”.
The chart below is one example; it shows the number of health personnel or patients who were abducted/arrested/detained in 2024.
The majority (75%) was reported from the Occupied Palestinian territory.
I can see that health care is the target there. I thought such actions were prohibited by international law.
Exactly. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) says that hospitals should be protected as well as medical staff and patients.
And attacking hospitals is one of 6 grave violations identified by the UN security council.
We must respect those laws. If any country violates this, the international community should act appropriately and work together to let the country respect international laws.
That’s right. The world will become more and more chaotic if things continue this way.
And we as individuals need to pay attention and keep an eye on these things.
