WHO documents 721 attacks on health care in occupied Palestinian territory since Oct. 7

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said it documented 721 attacks on health care in the occupied Palestinian territory since Oct. 7.

To a question at a UN press conference, Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesman, said some 357 of the attacks were carried out in the Gaza Strip in which 645 people were killed and 818 others injured.

“The attacks have affected 98 health care facilities (including 27 hospitals damaged out of 36) and affected 90 ambulances, including 50 which sustained damage,” Jasarevic added.

He said 364 attacks in the West Bank have resulted in 10 fatalities and 62 injuries.

“The attacks have affected 44 health facilities, including 15 mobile clinics and 249 ambulances,” the WHO spokesman added.

During the attacks on the West Bank, there were 251 incidents involving obstruction to health care delivery, 190 incidents involved the use of force, 60 incidents involved detention and 67 incidents involved a search of an ambulance,” said Jasarevic.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas, killing at least 27,947 Palestinians and injuring 67,459 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

An interim ruling last month by the International Court of Justice told Israel to cease its abuses, but most international observers say it has been flouting the ruling.