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 October 2026, the WHO reported 2,137 attacks on health care facilities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, resulting in the 1,052 deaths, 1,947 injuries, and damage to 1,214 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
In Gaza, as of 9 October 2023, 12 of 35 hospitals were partially functioning, and 51 of 72 primary medical care facilities are closed. As of April 2025, 374 medical personnel had been killed in Gaza, and about 120 ambulances have been completely destroyed.
As of October 2026, the WHO reported 2,137 attacks on health care facilities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, attacks have resulted in 1,010 deaths, 1,724 injuries, 324 detained health workers, 70 detained patients, and 459 ambulances damaged. In the West Bank, attacks have resulted in 42 deaths, 223 injuries, 330 detained health workers, 54 detained patients, and 755 ambulances damaged.
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.