EU: 31 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza were damaged or destroyed

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – MARCH 10: Vice-President of the European Commission, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles (L) and the European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic (R) hold a press conference in the EU Commission headquarter in Brussels, Belgium on March 10, 2021. (Photo by Thierry Monasse / Pool/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The European Union said 31 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since 7 October, calling for an end to attacks on health facilities, Anadolu reported.

This came in a joint statement by the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, and Commissioner for Crisis Management in the European Commission, Janez Lenarcic, yesterday who also denounced the Israeli occupation’s attacks on medical and civilian infrastructure in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Among the destroyed facilities is Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, which remains completely out of service.

“The remaining hospitals in Gaza are partially functioning, and operating under severe limitations. Due to the dire situation, many of them are on the verge of collapse or had to be closed. Access to emergency medical care is even more crucial at a time when Palestinians in Gaza live under constant shelling and more than 9,000 severely injured people are at risk of dying due to the lack of adequate health care,” said the statement

Since 7 October, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recorded a total of 890 attacks on health facilities; 443 in Gaza and 447 in the West Bank.

Attacks against healthcare workers, hospitals and ambulances disrupt vital medical services, they stressed, adding: “They deprive people of life-saving treatment. These attacks must end.”

“The situation of innocent people in Gaza is as desperate as ever,” the EU officials warned.

“The EU is also concerned about the continuous attacks on healthcare in the West Bank, where over 50 health facilities and 300 ambulances have been deliberately damaged in the past months.”

Over 35,500 Palestinians have since been killed, the vast majority of them women and children, and over 79,300 others injured since October 2023.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins.

Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

READ: Borrell reminds ICC member states that they must implement rulings

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.