Attacks on health facilities during the Gaza war

[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.

[17][16] The Physicians for Human Rights organization stated that a prominent aspect of the Hamas-led attack on Israel carried out in October 2023, was the assault on medical personnel and facilities, during which emergency teams were prevented from reaching the wounded, while some of those attempting to provide care were killed.

[26][27] A Battalion Aid Station team took cover under an armored vehicle due to AK-47 fire on them from the front and from its right side, while they were providing medical care, near Sufa.

The Lebanese health ministry condemned the attack, saying that “Israeli authorities were fully responsible for this unjustifiable act, which would have led to catastrophic results", and called for an investigation.

[41] A 17-year-old was shot and killed by IDF forces inside the Khalil Suleiman hospital compound near the Jenin refugee camp, according to accounts by Doctors Without Borders.

[42] Israeli forces disguised as medical staff and civilian Muslim women have shot dead three Palestinians inside a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin.

[54][55][56] According to The Guardian: "It's almost impossible to refute every accusation that has been made, but it's clear the intended and actual result of this campaign has been the systematic destruction of the healthcare infrastructure for Palestinians in Gaza".

[59] On 14 October 2023, according to a statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, an Israeli rocket had damaged the upper two floors of the hospital's cancer treatment center, which contained the ultrasound and mammography wards, and injured four staff members.

[60][61][62][63] On 17 October 2023, an explosion took place in the parking lot of the courtyard of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City during the war, resulting in a large number of fatalities and injuries among displaced Palestinians seeking shelter there.

[64] However, investigations from Channel 4 News, Le Monde, and The New York Times called this explanation into question and showed that multiple videos used as evidence were unlikely to depict the supposed rocket or even the attack itself.

The tunnels included bunkers, living areas, and computer and communications rooms, and established documents showed that Hamas masked its activities using the hospital.

Critics of the Isralei military say the evidence does not support its early claims, noting that it had distributed material before the raid showing five underground complexes and also had said the tunnel network could be reached from wards inside a hospital building.

[89] On 19 January 2024, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported they were working to clean and repair Al-Quds after it sustained damage from Israeli attacks, stating, "The hospital suffered a fire, and a destruction of all its medical equipments and contents.

[95] On 30 January, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that IDF tanks had raided the yard at al-Amal Hospital, forced displaced people to evacuate immediately.

[100] On 1 February 2024, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the siege of al-Amal had entered its eleventh day, with "repeated raids into the courtyards of the hospital" and "direct fire on the buildings".

"[120] On 24 March 2024, the Palestine Red Crescent stated that it was unable to contact its staff at Al-Amal after Israeli tanks attacked the hospital and forced nearly everyone inside to evacuate.

[121] The Red Crescent further stated hospital staff remained behind with nine patients, along with a family with disabled children, and that a displaced person had been shot in the head and killed.

[130] The World Health Organization (WHO) has strongly condemned Israel's repeated orders to evacuate al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, calling it a death sentence for the sick and wounded.

[132] On 13 December, Jacobin reported 240 people were trapped at al-Awda, surrounded by Israeli snipers, without clean water and surviving on one meal per day of bread or rice.

[136] Renzo Fricke, an official at Doctors Without Borders, stated, "Reports coming out of Al-Awda hospital are harrowing and we are gravely worried for the safety of patients and staff inside".

[167] On 14 December, the Ministry of Health reported 2,500 internally displaced persons had been forcibly evacuated, and that IDF soldiers had prevented medical staff from continuing support to 12 babies in intensive care and ten emergency department patients, leading to two deaths.

[183] An incident recorded and circulated online showed a doctor risking her life to save a young man wounded by Israeli snipers at the hospital gate.

[201][203] Israel claimed militants, "used the compound as a hiding place to direct and plan numerous attacks against IDF troops… (and) …developed and stored large quantities of weapons inside".

[210] There are 9 or more clinics in the Gaza Strip that perform IVF related procedures, but most of the embryos were stored in 5 liquid nitrogen tanks at the Al Basma center.

[213] Bahaeldeen Ghalayini said a single Israeli shell struck the part of the centre where there embryos were stored on the ground floor, but he said he did not know if the lab had been specifically targeted by the strike.

[213] Dr Bahaeldeen Ghalayini told Reuters that, "At least half of the couples – those who can no longer produce sperm or eggs to make viable embryos – will not have another chance to get pregnant".

Dr. Rick Brennan, the Emergencies Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region at the UN health agency (WHO), expressed the urgent need for continuous, expanded, and safeguarded humanitarian operations.

The inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, who are currently enduring the onslaught of Israel's bombings and gunfire, are now confronted with the escalation of illnesses due to the torrential winter rains that have inundated their temporary dwellings.

[238] President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey has "crossed out" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will refer Israel's human rights abuses and war crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

[242] Adele Khodr, the Regional Director of UNICEF Middle East and North Africa, emphasized that the rights of children to life and health are being violated.