Where hospitals turned battlegrounds
The UN Security Council met on Friday morning in New York to debate the collapse of health services in Gaza. The meeting was called by Algeria, the leading voice for the Arab world on the Council which has just taken the gavel as president for the month of January. Senior official from the World Health Organization (WHO) Rik Peeperkorn briefed ambassadors alongside High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.
With seven per cent of the population killed or injured since October 2023, the health crisis in Gaza shows no signs of abating.
Dr Rik Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) representative for the West Bank and Gaza, painted a grim picture of the situation, emphasising that over 25 per cent of the 105,000 injured civilians now face life-changing injuries. “At the current rate, it would take five to 10 years to evacuate all these critically ill patients,” Dr. Peeperkorn warned, noting that over 12,000 people remain on waiting lists for urgent treatment abroad.
Only 16 of the region’s 36 hospitals remain partially operational, their collective capacity merely above 1,800 beds - entirely insufficient for the overwhelming medical needs. “The health sector is being systematically dismantled,” Dr. Peeperkorn noted, citing shortages of medical supplies, equipment, and personnel. Kamal Adwan Hospital, North Gaza’s main healthcare facility, is among the latest casualties.
A December raid left the hospital severely damaged, forcing critical patients to be transferred to the Indonesian Hospital - another non-functional facility lacking essential supplies.
Meanwhile, Al-Awda Hospital, the last operational hospital in North Gaza, struggles to provide basic care amidst depleting resources, ongoing hostilities, and a precarious lack of access to vital medicines. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called the destruction of hospitals a “human rights catastrophe” which “continues to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world.”
Addressing ambassadors, he detailed patterns of targeted attacks on healthcare facilities, including the killing and forced removal of patients and staff.
For healthcare professionals in Gaza, “wearing scrubs and white coats is like wearing a target on their backs,” said Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan from NGO, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). More than 1,000 healthcare workers have been killed since October 2023. Despite the relentless violence, these professionals have continued their mission to save lives, often risking their own in the process. “They are proud hard-working professionals who take their oath to care for their patients very seriously,” Dr. Haj-Hassan said.
Dr Peeperkorn and Türk joined voices in demanding increased humanitarian aid, expedited evacuations, and adherence to international humanitarian law. “The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides, at all times,” Türk stressed.
WHO has verified 654 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza since October 2023, resulting in 886 fatalities and 1,349 injuries. Each attack leaves behind not just damaged buildings but also countless lives disrupted, denied access to essential care and stripped of dignity.
Despite the devastation, Gaza’s health system persists. “Against all odds, health workers, WHO and partners have kept services going as much as possible,” said Dr. Peeperkorn. The restoration of facilities like Al-Shifa and Nasser Medical Complex showcases the region’s ability to rebuild. “This is nothing short of a feat and is a reason to be hopeful,” he noted.
However, without a ceasefire and increased protection for health services, the future remains disheartening.
A report raises serious concerns about Israel’s compliance with international law. Medical personnel and hospitals are specifically protected under
international humanitarian law, provided they do not commit – or are not used to commit, outside their humanitarian function – acts harmful to the enemy.
The study has been released just days after the last functioning major healthcare facility in northern Gaza, Kama Adwan Hospital, was taken out of service after a raid by Israeli military forces, leaving the population of North Gaza with almost no access to adequate health care.
During the period covered by the report, there were at least 136 strikes on at least 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, claiming significant casualties among doctors, nurses, medics and other civilians, and causing significant damage, if not complete destruction of civilian infrastructure.
The report explains that, in the exceptional circumstances when medical personnel, ambulances, and hospitals lose their special protection because they fulfil the strict criteria to be considered military objectives, any attack on them must still comply with the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack. Failure to respect any of these principles constitutes a breach of international humanitarian law.