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Hospitals and doctors are increasingly victims of war

Hospitals and doctors are increasingly victims of war

Article 18 of the Geneva Convention is clear: civilian hospitals “may in no circumstances be the object of attack” and at all times should be “respected and protected” by parties. Yet researchers are seeing “staggering” numbers of healthcare facilities and healthcare workers attacked purposefully or indiscriminately in modern conflicts. Since 7 October, there have been over 155 attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel in Gaza and the West Bank. The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition found that of the 1,989 incidents in 2022 – the highest amount since they began reporting a decade ago – Russia’s attacks on Ukraine accounted for nearly half. “They’re [Russia] unaccountable, with complete impunity,” Leonard Rubenstein, chair of the coalition, tells the New York Times. See also: the arrest and abduction of doctors in Myanmar; the deliberate targeting of hospitals in Syria; and the destruction of health systems in Sudan and Yemen. The International Criminal Court has never issued an indictment for an attack on medical personnel or infrastructure. 

This piece originally appeared in the Sensemaker newsletter. To read more, click here.


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