Attachments
Today marks the grim milestone of over 1000 recorded attacks on health care in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), five months into Israel’s assault on Gaza following attacks by Hamas-affiliated militant groups from Gaza into southern Israel on 07 October 2023. This equates to approximately five attacks per day with the vast majority of incidents perpetrated by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). In the last six months the oPt has become the third conflict to report over 1000 attacks on health care. Last August, 18 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022, over 1,000 attacks were recorded. A few months later in November, this horrific milestone was reached in Myanmar, 30 months after the military coup in February 2021. Five months into Israel’s assault on Gaza, 1014 attacks on health care have been identified by Insecurity Insight.
- 1014 attacks on health care
- 328 incidents where health facilities were damaged
- 458 health workers killed
- 311 health workers arrested
In the Gaza Strip where 785 incidents were reported, most involved airstrikes damaging or destroying hospitals and clinics and killing health workers. The IDF’s unrelenting aerial attack on the strip has had a catastrophic and far-reaching impact on the population and the health care system. Only 12 out of 36 hospitals are still functioning at a limited capacity whilst ambulance teams continuously face obstructions in reaching injured and dead civilians trapped under the rubble due indiscriminate bombings which have devastated civilian infrastructure. This direct and indirect use of explosive weapon use in populated areas has also caused massive destruction in almost all of the strip’s refugee camps and destroyed bakeries, agricultural land and greenhouses which, along with an ongoing Israeli blockade of food, water, fuel, and essential medicines and supplies, has contributed towards an imminent risk of famine in Gaza.
In the West Bank where 175 incidents were recorded, over a third occurred inside refugee camps where security operations have increased since 07 October. During these operations, Israeli forces surrounded hospitals nearby camps and obstructed ambulance crews from assisting injured civilians, leading to some patients bleeding to death. Patients have been detained from ambulances and health workers arrested and assaulted at military checkpoints or whilst attempting to reach patients.
" The rise in number of attacks on health care perpetrated by state forces is deeply concerning and testifies to the failure among states to respect international humanitarian law,” Christina Wille, director of Insecurity Insight
Media contact: For more information, interviews or curated datasets, please contact Tim Bishop - tim.bishop@insecurityinsight.org
This data is available on HDX. See where incidents happened on this interactive map.