TEHRAN – Since October 2023, the Gaza Strip has witnessed an unprecedented, systematic attack on healthcare infrastructure by Israeli forces.
The campaign not only targets hospitals, clinics and ambulances, but also healthcare professionals, resulting in massive destruction and a massive proportion of humanitarian crisis.
The ongoing attacks have significantly weakened Gaza’s already vulnerable health system, completely disrupting it, and pushing it up to the verge of causing global condemnation.
Wide destruction of medical facilities
Between October 7, 2023 and May 20, 2025, Israeli airstrikes and ground operations severely damaged the Gaza health system. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were at least 686 attacks on healthcare-related sites during this period.
These include attacks on 122 medical facilities, including 33 hospitals and 180 ambulances. Many of them are not working now or are working at very low levels.
One of the worst strikes came on May 13, 2025, when an Israeli air attack took Karn Yunis’s Gaza European Hospital to the largest European hospital in the territory.
At least 28 people have been killed and around 40 injured in the attack. The hospital took on evacuated civilians in addition to regular patients, resulting in an even larger scale of the disaster.
On the same day, Khan Yunis’s Nasser Medical Complex was attacked, killing two of the journalists.
In northern Gaza, Indonesian hospitals were forced to stop operations amid heavy artillery fire and siege. Approximately 30 patients and 15 staff were locked inside.
Several other hospitals, including Al Adwan, Al Shifa and Al Awda, suffered similar fate due to strikes, sieges or sieges, further paralyzing their emergency medical response capabilities.
Civilian victims and loss of medical staff
The damage to humans from attacks is devastating. At least 53,475 Palestinians have been killed and more than 121,000 have been injured since October 2023, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. More than 1,400 frontline health workers, including doctors, nurses and volunteers, are counted among the deaths, as they try to save lives in increasingly dangerous situations.
The May 13 strike at the European Hospital left the left gene, scattered throughout the site, and the overwhelmed medical team. The destruction of the hospital not only caused direct casualties, but also caused indirect deaths. This is because many patients are unable to save lives due to lack of fuel, medical supplies and functional facilities.
Israel’s justification and international response
Israel justified its actions by claiming Hamas was using hospitals for military activities such as arms storage centres that stripped such facilities in protected positions under the law of war.
Israeli officials said the May 13 attack on the European hospital was intended to destroy Hamas leaders, who are suspected of hiding in underground bunkers. However, these claims were fired from critics.
Investigations by international journalists, human rights groups and observers have found no evidence to support Israeli claims, suggesting that the attack is disproportionate and illegal.
Siege and seal
The ongoing Israeli lockdown has severely restricted the invasion of essential medical, fuel, food and humanitarian aid into Gaza, deepening the health crisis.
Since March 2, 2025, humanitarian or commercial goods have not been put into Gaza, causing a serious shortage. The United Nations Relief and Labor Administration (UNRWA) reports that more than 40% of essential medical supplies are out of stock and are expected to run out soon.
The lockdown also prevented medical evacuation and blocked humanitarian access to besieged hospitals.
The closure of hospitals in Indonesia illustrates the crisis, with Israeli forces hampering patients and staff moving. Other hospitals have suffered bombings, arsons and sieges, leaving thousands of illnesses and injuries uncautious, causing fear of an increase in death toll from preventable causes.
Broader legal implications
Repeated destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure and the killing of civilians in hospitals constitute a serious humanitarian crisis.
The Red Cross and the United Nations International Commission condemned these attacks and called for immediate halt and accountability for violations.
The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Cooperation (OCHA) reports that at least 842 cases have affected UNRWA facilities since October 2023, with more than 767 people killed and 2,419 injured.
The collapse of the health system threatens not only immediate survival, but also the long-term happiness of the Gaza population.
Personal stories and psychological trauma
Behind the incredible victim figures of Gaza are the heartbreaking personal stories of loss and trauma. Healthcare workers, including volunteer nurses at Al Awda Hospital, died while caring for patients. Children, the elderly and other civilians are trapped in bombed hospitals that do not have electricity, clean water or essential medicines.
The Indonesian hospital director described it as a “death trap” surrounded by Israeli forces, and was cut off from help. At Al Shifa Hospital, airstrikes killed the whole family in search of shelter, eroding the hospital concept as a safe shelter.
These individual tragedies underscore the immeasurable psychological sacrifices of conflict and the collapse of Gaza’s health care system. The Israeli attack transformed the hospital into a battlefield, targeting it in place of the sanctuary.
The international community faces urgent orders to protect civilians, ensure access to healthcare and hold perpetrators accountable.
Without immediate action, the Gaza healthcare system denies the suffering and death of millions of people in conflicts that have become tragically battlefields, putting a complete collapse at risk.