A Global Support Network for Nurses and Clinicians of All Disciplines
War and Deliberate Attacks on Medical Care
August 14, 2026
5–8 minutes
HEALTH SERVICES: AMONG THE FIRST CASUALTIES OF CONFLICT
In many places affected by conflict or other situations of violence, hospitals, clinics or ambulances are destroyed or damaged in bombing, shelling and gunfire. Health workers are killed, abducted, harassed, threatened or forced to flee. For every facility destroyed and health worker killed, countless people are left without the care they need.
Wounded or sick combatants and civilians are also attacked or blocked from accessing the care they need. Road closures, checkpoints or active fighting prevent or delay ambulances from reaching people and taking them to medical facilities for life-saving services.”
“Health needs in conflict-affected areas are spread across all levels of care, but the need for emergency and life-saving medical and surgical services is particularly acute. In 2024, over 70,640 surgical admissions for weapon wounds were recorded at hospitals supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an increase of almost 50% compared to 2023.
In addition to physical wounds, people living with armed conflict and other violence have to deal with the invisible scars left by the fighting on their mental and psychosocial well-being. More than one in five people in areas affected by conflict suffer from a mental illne s, and about 9% of conflict-affected populations have a moderate to severe mental-health condition, substantially higher than the global estimate for these conditions in the general population.”
“During just the first weeks of the Russian full-scale invasion, there were constant, daily attacks on Ukraine’s health care system. For 35 days, Ukraine’s health care system was damaged every single day. Assaults were particularly intense in February and March; during the first two weeks of the invasion, an average of four to five hospitals and clinics were attacked daily. Attacks continued throughout the year, with 235 attacks on health care overall in March and an average of 47 attacks each month from April through December 2022. Over the entire period studied in this report (February 24-December 31, 2022), there was an average of more than two attacks on health care each day.”
“Between February 24 and December 31, 2022, the research team documented a total of 707 attacks on Ukraine’s health care system. ▪ There were 292 documented attacks that damaged or destroyed 218 hospitals and clinics. Many health facilities were attacked more than once. ▪ There were 65 documented attacks on ambulances. ▪ There were 181 documented attacks on other health infrastructure (e.g., pharmacies, blood centers, dental clinics, research centers, etc.). ▪ 86 attacks on health care workers were documented, with 62 health workers killed and 52 injured. Many others were threatened, imprisoned, taken hostage, and forced to work under Russian occupation. One in 10 of Ukraine’s hospitals have been directly damaged from attacks, with the heaviest destruction in the eastern oblasts of Kharkivska, Donetska, and Luhanska, and also in Khersonska and Kyivska. In some cities and towns, nearly all the health facilities were harmed in some way. In Mariupol, in the southern part of Donetska oblast, almost 8 out of 10 points of health care service provision, sites where medical assistance is available, were either damaged or destroyed. In the Makariv municipality – where three health facilities and 30 pharmacies have been damaged or destroyed – the scale of the attacks has led to the severe disruption of health services and infrastructure in the area. In 10 oblasts, 48 hospitals were hit multiple times, underscoring not only the indiscriminate nature of attacks but also the possibility that they were deliberately targeted. For instance, the Severodonetsk City Multiprofile Hospital in Luhanska oblast was hit 10 times between March and May 2022. One hospital in Kharkivska oblast was hit five times, and another was hit four times.”
“The healthcare system in Gaza was grossly inadequate even before 7 October 2023. The 17-year blockade of Gaza in the context of Israel’s 57-year occupation, combined with the destruction caused by repeated escalations of hostilities since 2008, during which Israeli forces regularly bombed Gaza, had created broad dependence on external aid and heavily restricted access and movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, including those essential for healthcare.
This created the conditions for endemic shortcomings in healthcare provision and recurring violations of Palestinians’ human rights in Gaza, including their rights to life and health.
The situation has deteriorated to a catastrophic level since October 2023, as this already damaged health system has been targeted, resulting in the killing of hundreds of health and medical professionals.
This report sets out patterns in the conduct of hostilities in relation to attacks on hospitals and in their vicinities, examining several cases which OHCHR” [United Nations Office of the High Commissioner Human Rights] “has closely monitored.
The attacks on hospitals often followed a similar pattern, involving missile strikes on hospital buildings, the destruction of hospital facilities, shooting of civilians, sieges, as well as temporarily taking over hospital buildings. The present report does not examine in detail the many cases of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and ill-treatment of medical personnel and other Palestinians, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), taken into custody from inside hospitals, which has been reported on elsewhere. It is clear, however, that these losses of qualified personnel have contributed to the collapse of the healthcare system.
The impacts of the Israeli military’s operations in and around hospitals that led, in many instances, to combat in these areas have been significant, extending far beyond the physical structures. It has resulted in the loss of access to essential, life-saving treatment; loss of access to safe spaces, including desperately needed shelters; and loss of care for chronic illnesses, turning non-life-threatening conditions into potentially fatal ones. The destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, along with Israel’s restrictions on the entry and distribution of medical supplies, has led to the drastic deterioration of health outcomes across the entire population and a health catastrophe, with the spread of infectious diseases including polio, Hepatatis A, acute diarrhoea and jaundice. This has caused significant suffering among the population and thousands of Palestinian civilians have resultantly died and will continue to die until the health system is rebuilt. A fundamental rule of international humanitarian law (IHL) is that the wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for. All wounded and sick persons, including civilians and persons hors de combat, are afforded protection. Furthermore, IHL provides specific protections to medical personnel and medical units where the wounded and sick are cared for, including hospitals.”
“The increasingly limited healthcare system prevented many of those who had sustained trauma injuries from receiving timely and possibly life-saving treatment. As of 24 April 2024, according to the Palestinian MOH, the number of hospital beds across Gaza had decreased by 80 per cent. Also, according to the Palestinian MOH, by the end of June 2024, more than 500 medical professionals had been killed in Gaza since 7 October.
Meanwhile, by the end of April 2024, according the Palestinian MOH, 77,704 Palestinians were injured, with over 380 injured daily on average since 7 October 2023, only increasing the significant pressure on a healthcare system that was under attack and shrinking. While many major hospitals were non-functional or only partially functioning, at the remaining functioning hospitals medical professionals could not meet the demands placed on them due to the lack of resources, including critical shortages in basic supplies. Many injured reportedly died while waiting to be hospitalized or treated. Even those who managed to receive critical treatment, including surgery, received it without proper bedding and facilities, and were often discharged prematurely due to a lack of space.”