A significant number of attacks on healthcare facilities occurred during the Gaza war and genocide. During the first week of the war, there were 94 attacks on health care facilities in Israel and Gaza, killing 29 healthcare workers and injuring 24. The attacks on healthcare facilities contributed to a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 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. By February 2024, it was reported that "every hospital in Gaza is either damaged, destroyed, or out of service due to lack of fuel." By April, WHO had verified 906 attacks on healthcare in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon. As of June 2024, according to WHO, Israel has carried out 464 attacks on health care facilities, resulting in the death of 727 health care workers, injury of 933 health care workers, and damaging or destroying 113 ambulances. 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". Human Rights Watch stated, "The Israeli government has put forward no evidence that would justify stripping hospitals of their special protections." In December 2024, Andrew Cayley of the International Criminal Court said that Israeli claims about Hamas use of hospitals are "grossly exaggerated". On 13 March 2025, a United Nations investigation concluded that Israel has committed genocidal acts in Gaza by systematically destroying its reproductive healthcare facilities.
== Background == Israel is alleged to have broken medical neutrality, a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. According to Gaza officials, the IDF deliberately targeted ambulances and health facilities with airstrikes. In a statement, the Palestine Red Crescent demanded "accountability for this war crime." The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNRWA, and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reported the deaths of their medical personnel. The Physicians for Human Rights organization stated that a prominent aspect of the October 7 attacks, 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. They also stated that the crimes of those who knowingly murdered them must not be diminished. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in December 2023 that there have been 164 attacks against healthcare in Palestine—in the Gaza Strip—since 7 October 2023. As a result of those attacks, 198 Palestinian medical staff, 12 members of the Palestinian Civil Defense, and 103 UNRWA staff have been killed. At the time of the report, 26 hospitals and 52 healthcare centers in Gaza were out of service, with 55 ambulances damaged. The WHO has provided an updated report that states between 7 October 2023 and 19 September 2024, there have been 492 attacks on healthcare in Gaza with 492 individuals killed. No hospital in Gaza is fully functioning, only 17 of 36 hospitals are partially functioning and the remaining 19 are out of service. In May 2024, The Washington Post reported that only 4 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza have not been damaged by munitions, raided by Israeli forces, or ceased operations.
Casualties
As of April 2025, 374 medical personnel had been killed in Gaza, and about 120 ambulances have been completely destroyed. In Gaza, as of 9 October 2023, 12 of 35 hospitals were partially functioning, and 51 of 72 primary medical care facilities are closed.
Attacks in Israel
=== Attacks on ambulances and medical crews === Israel's national emergency service reported three employees were killed, four volunteers remain injured, nine ambulances were put out of use due to gunshot and fire damage on the October 7 attacks, and a patient was shot inside an ambulance. Director General of the service said that paramedics' bodies were found with their medical gloves still on, and claimed that Hamas had killed them in the midst of treating the wounded; ambulance drivers were killed while sitting in the drivers' seats, and ambulances were intentionally torched and blown up by Hamas militants to prevent any attempt to save potential victims. Several people that were hiding in an abandoned ambulance were killed when it was bombed by Hamas gunmen at the Nova music festival massacre. 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.
=== Medical helicopter hit by rocket debris === On 7 October 2023, an ambulance helicopter was transporting three critically wounded people while rockets were flying overhead. Debris hit its rotors. The helicopter lost its balance and started the helicopter spinning. No casualties were reported.
Be'eri Clinic
During Be'eri massacre on 7 October 2023, the local dental clinic became the site of a standoff between attacking militants and the kibbutz's security teams. Militants eventually stormed the clinic, reportedly killing all of the staff and patients.
Barzilai Hospital
Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon suffered 3 direct rocket strikes: with one rocket striking a bridge between buildings at the hospital and another hitting the childcare clinic.
=== Soroka Medical Center === Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheba was used as the main hub for treating the injured during the initial attacks on 7 October. According to the head of the hospital, Shlomi Codish, while the medical personnel were treating the patients, there were repeated rocket attacks on the area, of which 18 landed in the area around the hospital.
=== Sheba Medical Center === On 21 October 2023, a cyber attack against Sheba Medical Center occurred. Israel's Ministry of Health instructed several hospitals to temporarily disconnect from the internet amid fears of a cyberattack.
Attacks in Lebanon
=== Meiss Ej Jabal Hospital === On 10 November, the IDF shelled Meiss Ej Jabal Hospital which injured a doctor. 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.
=== Hanin Hospital === On 11 January 2024, the IDF conducted strikes in the town of Hanine and targeted an emergency center affiliated with the Hezbollah-backed Islamic Health Committee. The attack killed two workers from the rescue force and destroyed an ambulance.
Attacks in the West Bank
=== Jenin Governmental Hospital === Israeli forces fired shots and tear gas on 29 January 2024, damaging the hospital's maternity ward.
=== Khalil Suleiman hospital === 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.
Assassination of alleged militants asleep in hospital
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. The UN described them as extrajudicial executions. The hospital says the men were ‘assassinated’. Israel says they belonged to a ‘Hamas terrorist cell’. The BBC referred to the men who were killed as "members of Palestinian armed groups". The spokesperson for the hospital, Tawfiq al-Shobaki, said there was no exchange of fire in the hospital, just the assassination of a patient. He also said that all three men who died were asleep at the time of the attack.
Attacks in the Gaza Strip
On 12 October 2023, the ICRC stated: "Hospitals in Gaza risk turning into morgues". On 15 October 2023, WHO data showed there had been 48 reported attacks on healthcare facilities in the Gaza Strip, resulting in damage to approximately 24 hospitals and healthcare facilities, including six hospitals. According to the World Health Organization, at least 521 people, including 16 medical workers, had been killed in 137 "attacks on health care" in Gaza by 12 November. By 14 November 2023, only one hospital was still operating in the north of Gaza. On 7 February 2024, the UN stated that only 4 of its 22 health facilities in Gaza remained operational.
The IDF accused Hamas of military operations inside hospitals, including alleged attacks on IDF soldiers, weapon storage, fighters taking shelter, providing support for Hamas tunnels, human shielding, and holding hostages Many of these claims, however, have been debunked under scrutiny from journalists. 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". In December 2024, Andrew Cayley, leading the International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine said that Israeli claims about Hamas use of hospitals in Gaza used to justify Israeli attacks on them are "grossly exaggerated". Doctors Without Borders stated Israel had shown "complete disregard for the protection and safety of medical and humanitarian missions and their staff". As of October 2024, the World Health Organization stated it had verified 516 attacks on healthcare in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. On 13 March 2025, a United Nations investigation concluded that Israel has committed genocidal acts in Gaza by systematically destroying its reproductive healthcare facilities while at the same time imposing a siege preventing necessary medications for deliveries, pregnancies and neonatal care, causing an "irreversible" harm to the reproductive prospects of Palestinians in Gaza. The investigation said the destruction "was a measure intended to prevent births among Palestinians in Gaza, which is a genocidal act". On the same day, Israel bombed the Gaza European Hospital, killing Hamas leader Muhammed Sinwar and his companions who were holding a meeting in a bunker. Sources from Gaza-based factions reported that "the location did in fact contain a tunnel system".
Al-Ahli Arab Hospital
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. 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. Initial report suggested that an errant rocket launched from within Gaza hitting a parking lot near a hospital was the most probable cause. 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. In its investigation on 20 October 2023, Forensic Architecture concluded that the blast was the result of a "munition fired from the direction of Israel", and in subsequent visual investigations published on 15 February 2024 and 17 October 2024, with the latter including situated testimony from doctors, it cast further doubt on the errant rocket launch theory. On 18 December 2023, the al-Ahli Arab Hospital was attacked by Israeli soldiers, with displaced people forced out and two doctors arrested. The following day, the al-Ahli Hospital director stated Israeli troops arrested doctors, patients, and medical staff, partially destroyed the building's grounds, leaving the hospital unable to receive patients. Four people from the 18 December attacks on the hospital died. On 13 April 2025, Israel bombed a part of the hospital, taking out its emergency department.
Al-Shifa Hospital siege
Al-Shifa Hospital was under siege and bombing during the war. The hospital has been completely cut off from the rest of Gaza City, trapping 15,000 people who are either patients in need of treatment or have taken refuge in the hospital grounds. Israel claims it is used as a military base by Hamas, a claim that Hamas denies. Analysis from BBC, The Independent, and The Washington Post found Israel's claims of a Hamas base at al-Shifa to be "unconvincing". But later examination by The New York Times suggest Hamas did store weapons and took cover at the hospital, using tunnels 213 meters long, twice the size previously known. The tunnels included bunkers, living areas, and computer and communications rooms, and established documents showed that Hamas masked its activities using the hospital. The Times also verified that the tunnel was under the surgery center. The analysis confirmed that "The Israeli military, however, has struggled to prove that Hamas maintained a command-and-control center under the facility. Critics of the Israeli 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." In November 2023 the tunnels were destroyed by IDF while humanitarian activities continued in the hospital without interruption. On 4 February 2024, Israeli surveillance and quadcopter drones fired on people sheltering inside the hospital.
=== Indonesian Hospital === On 20 November 2023, as part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, the IDF completely surrounded and besieged the hospital. A report by Al-Haq found that the Indonesia Hospital had been the one targeted most persistently by the IDF. In June 2024, footage showed Israeli forces had destroyed the Noura al-Kaabi specialised dialysis centre at the Indonesian Hospital. On 18 May 2025, the hospital was attacked by Israeli drones.
=== Al-Quds Hospital === The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City was warned by IDF to immediately evacuate. The World Health Organization has expressed its deep concern over the report. 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." On 9 February, Palestine Red Crescent Society stated the hospital had sustained severe damage from strikes by Israeli tanks.
Al-Amal Hospital
==== January 2024 ==== On 26 January 2024, snipers were reported around the vicinity of the hospital. Two brothers were shot by the snipers despite carrying a white flag. A 28-year-old was reportedly killed in the hospital compound on 28 January. Three people were killed and four injured on 29 January when they tried to move the body of a woman from the hospital. 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. On 31 January, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported Israeli forces had raided the hospital square and were firing heavily. Satellite analysis showed extensive damage to the area around the hospital, and 20 Israeli army vehicles located 500 metres (1,640 feet) west of the hospital building. Israeli forces again raided the hospital on 31 January, and a quadcopters shot and killed a security guard.
==== February 2024 ==== The Red Crescent stated two paramedics had been "targeted and directly fired upon by Israeli forces" outside the hospital. 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". The Red Crescent reported that Israeli soldiers had killed 12 people at the hospital the day prior, and wounded six, after they opened fire as they stormed the hospital. On 2 February, the Red Crescent reported another four people were killed and six were injured by Israeli forces. In a post, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported he was "horrified by the reports about killing". On 3 February, the Red Crescent stated it had buried three of its staff members. Eleven displaced people were wounded after Israel threw smoke bombs at the hospital. The Red Crescent reported that 43 people had been killed since the start of Israel's siege. Two people were wounded by Israeli gunfire on 7 February 2024. People were reportedly being prevented from entering or exiting the premises. On 9 February, Israeli conducted searches inside the hospital. 18 February marked the 27th day of Israel's siege on the hospital, with intense Israeli shelling and bombardment causing severe damage. Israeli forces destroyed the hospital's desalination station, leading the Red Crescent to state only three days of drinking water remained at the hospital. The Red Crescent reported significant damage to the hospital from Israeli shelling on 19 February. On 21 February, the Red Crescent stated they were still recovering corpses from the vicinity of the hospital and called on Israel "to lift the imposed siege before it is too late and the hospital is forced out of service". The hospital sustained "significant damage" on 23 February, following airstrikes in the near vicinity. A UN delegation to the hospital on 25 February reportedly encountered "catastrophic conditions", including severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. The Palestinian Red Crescent stated it evacuated 24 patients on 26 February. UNOCHA reported that during the evacuation, the Israeli military had blocked the ambulance and forced the paramedics to strip naked. On 27 February, the World Health Organization secretary-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, "The hospital experienced 40 attacks from 22 January to 22 February, which killed at least 25 and left it incapacitated. 31 patients are still in the hospital."
==== March 2024 ==== 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. 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. On 25 March, the Red Crescent stated it had coordinated with the ICRC and UNOCHA to evacuate 27 medical staff and six patients. Witnesses stated the hospital had been under "constant bombing and tank shells". On 26 March, the Red Crescent stated the hospital was completely out of service.
=== Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital === An air strike in the vicinity of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital caused damage and was condemned by Turkey, who stated it was a violation of international law.
=== Jordan Field Hospital === The Jordan Field Hospital in Gaza, which has been operating since 2009, was badly affected during the conflict. The hospital faced an existential threat due to a lack of supplies during the Israeli bombardment. In response, the Jordanian Air Force sent emergency medical aid to the hospital. On 19 January 2024, the Jordanian government reported that the Israeli military had deliberately targeted its field hospital in Khan Younis, using a tank to block the hospital entrance and shooting at the hospital and bunker shelters.
=== Al Awda Hospital === 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. More than 2,000 patients were forced to move to southern Gaza. This will worsen the current humanitarian and public health disaster. On 1 December, Doctors Without Borders stated the hospital had been damaged "in a blast". 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. A staffer at the hospital reported Israeli snipers had shot at a one pregnant civilian at the hospital. A hospital monitoring manager stated a nurse had been killed by an Israeli sniper on the hospital's fourth floor through the window. On 14 December, the Gaza Health Ministry stated their fear that after the Israeli raid of Kamal Adwan was complete, al-Awda would be their next target. 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". On 19 December, Doctors Without Borders reported Israeli troops seized Al Awda, with troops stripping, bounding, and interrogating all men and boys over the age of sixteen. Soldiers continued holding the hospital. A nurse was reportedly killed by a sniper on 21 December, with people left in a "state of horror". An airstrike on the hospital compound on 30 January 2024 killed at least five people. The hospital was again hit by Israeli shelling on 31 January. On 27 February, the hospital's staff stated al-Awda was at-risk of being shut down, after experiencing an 18-day siege by the Israel military. In October 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry stated Israel had besieged and was directly targeting the Al-Awda Hospital. The Al Awda hospital stated Israeli strikes on the hospital and an ambulance had wounded several medical staff.
=== Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Hospital === The Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in Gaza reported heavy damage. the hospital was the first in Gaza to equip individuals with prosthetic limbs and deliver comprehensive rehabilitation services. The hospital had already been damaged previously during an Israeli bombardment in 2021. On 20 May 2025, Israeli forces bombarded the hospital, causing material damage.
=== Attacks on ambulances === On 14 February 2024, the Palestinian Red Crescent shared video of an ambulance destroyed by Israeli gunfire while attempting to transport oxygen from Nasser Hospital to Al-Amal Hospital. On 25 July 2024, the Red Crescent stated Israeli forces fired on one of its ambulances in Al-Mawasi while its medics were assisting injured civilians. In late-August 2024, an Israeli rocket killed five members of a medical convoy for the American Near East Refugee Aid. In September 2024, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in a social media post that Israeli tanks had fired at a medical convoy, despite having Israeli military clearance.
==== Doctors Without Borders convoy ==== On 18 November 2023, two people were killed while traveling in a clearly identified Doctors Without Borders evacuation convoy in Gaza City. Doctors Without Borders termed it a "deliberate attack."
