Attacks on health facilities during the Israel–Hamas war
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A significant number of attacks on healthcare facilities occurred during the Israel-Hamas war. During the first week of the war, there were 94 attacks on health care facilities in Israel and Gaza, killing 29 health care workers and injuring 24.[1] The attacks on healthcare facilities contributed to a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza.[2] By 30 November, the World Health Organization documented 427 attacks on healthcare in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, resulting in 566 fatalities and 758 injuries.[3] By February 2024, it was reported that "every hospital in Gaza is either damaged, destroyed, or out of service due to lack of fuel."[4] By April, WHO had verified 906 attacks on healthcare in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon.[5]
Each side has been accused of committing war crimes in their attacks. CNN quoted the ICRC saying that "hospitals are given special protection under international humanitarian law in a time of war, but if militants store weapons there, or use them as a base of fire, then that protection falls away".[6] Human Rights Watch stated, "The Israeli government has put forward no evidence that would justify stripping hospitals of their special protections."[7][8]