Al-Shifa Hospital was the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, located in the neighborhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City.
Medical neutrality refers to a principle of noninterference with medical services in times of armed conflict and civil unrest: physicians must be allowed to care for the sick and wounded, and soldiers must receive care regardless of their political affiliations; all parties must refrain from attacking and misusing medical facilities, transport, and personnel. Concepts comprising the principles of medical neutrality derive from international human rights law, medical ethics and humanitarian law. Medical neutrality may be thought of as a kind of social contract that obligates societies to protect medical personnel in both times of war and peace, and obligates medical personnel to treat all individuals regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or political affiliation. Violations of medical neutrality constitute crimes outlined in the Geneva Conventions.
Health in the State of Palestine should be addressed by the healthcare system in the State of Palestine. There are problems arising from difficulty of access, water scarcity while burden of non-communicable diseases in Palestine is high; the problems are compounded in Gaza.
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the Kamal Adwan Hospital, a hospital in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, was besieged by the Israel Defense Forces.
A Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen began in 2015, in an attempt to influence the outcome of the Yemeni Civil War. Saudi Arabia, spearheading a coalition of nine Arab states, began carrying out airstrikes in neighbouring Yemen and imposing an aerial and naval blockade on 26 March 2015, heralding a military intervention code-named Operation Decisive Storm. More than 130 health facilities(2019) in Yemen have been destroyed by a series of airstrikes conducted by the Saudi Arabian-led coalition since March 2015. Many of these have been public health hospitals staffed or supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Critics of the assaults say the airstrikes are war crimes in violation of the protections of health care facilities afforded by the internationally recognized rules of war and have called for independent investigations.
The 2018–2019 Gaza border protests, also known as the Great March of Return, were a series of demonstrations held each Friday in the Gaza Strip near the Gaza-Israel border from 30 March 2018 until 27 December 2019, in which Israeli forces killed a total of 223 Palestinians. The demonstrators demanded that the Palestinian refugees must be allowed to return to lands they were displaced from in what is now Israel. They protested against Israel's land, air and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip and the United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
Events in 2023 in the Palestinian territories.
On 3 November 2023, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip and siege of Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike hit an ambulance convoy departing from al-Shifa Hospital carrying critically injured patients. The strike killed 15 people and wounded dozens. The Palestine Red Crescent Society, which was part of the convoy, said that all 15 casualties were civilians.
The Gaza Strip is experiencing a humanitarian crisis as a result of the Israel–Hamas war. The crisis includes both a famine and a healthcare collapse. At the start of the war, Israel implemented a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in significant shortages of fuel, food, medication, water, and essential medical supplies. This siege resulted in a 90% drop in electricity availability, impacting hospital power supplies, sewage plants, and shutting down the desalination plants that provide drinking water. Widespread disease outbreaks have spread across Gaza.
Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, was placed under siege by Israel in mid-November 2023 during the Israel–Hamas war, after saying it had contained a Hamas command and control center beneath it. The incident was followed by a second major raid by Israeli forces in March 2024.
A significant number of attacks on healthcare facilities occurred during the Israel-Hamas war. During the first week of the war, there were 94 attacks on health care facilities in Israel and Gaza, killing 29 health care 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.
During the Israel–Hamas war, the healthcare system of Gaza was destroyed by Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities, killing of healthcare workers, and blockade of medical supplies from entering Gaza. The resulting collapse of the healthcare system was part of a broader humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip caused by the war.
The Gaza Strip faced a premature baby crisis during the Israel–Hamas war. The situation escalated when the Israeli Defense Forces raided Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Nasr Children's Hospital, and Kamal Adwan Hospital. Reports of premature babies in intensive care, added to concerns about the rising number of preterm births in Gaza. The newborns gained global attention.
More than 685 health workers have been killed and 900 wounded during attacks on medical facilities and medical transport in the Israel-Hamas War. Although the injuries happened both on the Israeli side and on the Palestinian side, most of these attacks were carried out by Israeli forces against Palestinians.
As a result of the Israel–Hamas war, children have been disproportionately impacted in the Gaza Strip, where 40% of the population is 14 or under. On 13 November, UNICEF reported that more than 700,000 children in Gaza were displaced. A dire humanitarian crisis, with reports of children suffering from a serious epidemic of gastroenteritis due to the lack of clean water, led to concerns amongst health officials and aid organizations. Speaking to reporters early in the conflict, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that "Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day."
During the Israel–Hamas war, the Nasser Hospital faced multiple attacks, including a siege and raid in January and February 2024. The hospital siege by Israeli forces created severe shortages of food, anesthesia, and painkillers. Reports emerged of Israeli snipers targeting individuals outside the hospital. Despite international calls for restraint, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered the evacuation of displaced people inside the hospital on 13 February 2024. On 15 February, Israeli soldiers raided the hospital. The hospital had completely ceased functioning by March 2024.
