2023 Attacks on Health Care in War Zones Most Ever Documented
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition identified 2562 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in conflicts in 2023, a 25% increase from 2022, representing 500 more attacks than documented last year, and the highest ever since the Coalition began reporting. During 2023, health facilities were bombed, looted, occupied, raided, and vandalised. Safe staffing levels continued to be severely undermined with the killing, kidnapping, and arrest of health workers. Medical supplies and convoys continued to be looted and hijacked, while patients continued to be obstructed from accessing health care services. Health facilities were increasingly occupied or repurposed for military use, and the areas around health facilities were bombed. Nearly half of the reported incidents were attributed to state forces. Explosive weapons use impacting health care increased in Israel, the oPt, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria and continued in Ukraine in 2023. Drones armed with explosives were more frequently used in attacks on health care in 2023 in both new and long-standing conflicts in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Myanmar, the oPt, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.
Consistent and systematic monitoring over the past years has shown that conflicts where violence against health care becomes a consistent pattern frequently started with extreme levels of violence against the health system. In 2023, this pattern was apparent in Manipur state (India), the Gaza Strip, and Sudan, similar to what was observed in recent years in Myanmar and Ukraine. Read more