Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has thrown a spotlight on the severe impacts of Israel’s attacks on health facilities in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank since October 7.

“More than 1000 attacks on doctors, patients, clinics, and health infrastructure have fueled a public health catastrophe in the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory]. This grim milestone has few if any precedents for the scale and magnitude of attacks on health in the OPT,” said Houssam al-Nahhas, PHR’s Middle East and North Africa researcher, according to Al Jazeera 

“These are not only attacks on brick-and-mortar buildings, but acts that take away hospital beds, essential medications, surgeries, and life-saving care from women, men, boys, and girls,” he said.

The New York-based group called for independent investigations into the attacks on healthcare and warned Israel that the moves could constitute a violation of international humanitarian law.