(New York, May 29, 2026) – Ten years after the United Nations Security Council adopted its Resolution 2286 to protect health care in armed conflict, attacks on hospitals and health personnel continue, said today Human Rights Watch.
La Résolution 2286, adoptée à l’unanimité le 3 mai 2016, oblige les États à « prevent and prevent » attacks on health services. A decade later, a new report from the Coalition for Health Protection in Conflict (Safeguarding Health in Conflict CoalitionSHCC), an international group of non-governmental organizations including Human Rights Watch, reveals, however, that attacks against health establishments and medical personnel continue at an alarming rate. Governments should protect the rule of law by effectively preventing these illegal attacks and punishing those responsible.
« Resolution 2286 sets out clear obligations to protect health personnel and facilities in armed conflict, and to respect international law », declared Julia Bleckner, senior checheuse auprès de l’Initiative pour la santé mondo à Human Rights Watch. TO” Ten years later, not only have member states failed to fulfill these obligations, but their leaders appear unconcerned while violating laws and standards. Accountability requires more than resolutions. It demands consequences. »
Human Rights Watch created a web page compiling its research on attacks on health care in the ten years since the resolution was adopted.
La coalition SHCC a recensé 2 546 incidents signalés d’« attacks on health » in 33 countries in 2025. Among these cases, 936 incidents were characterized by the murder, kidnapping or arrest of health professionals or humanitarians; 790 incidents involved attacks on health infrastructure, including hospitals and clinics. The coalition noted that “ In all conflicts examined, attacks on health care in 2025 have had interconnected repercussions across health systems HAS”. The SHCC report also revealed that the majority of attacks were carried out by state forces. Furthermore, on May 7, the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, published a report presenting similar conclusions, and emphasizing that “[la] sharp increase in acts of violence against health services observed since 2016 is mainly the work of state actors».
On May 19, representatives of UN member states and civil society organizations met in New York to discuss significant accountability gaps and renew their commitment to take concrete measures to reduce attacks on health services.
All governments should take urgent action to comply with international law and the requirements set out in Resolution 2286, Human Rights Watch said. This includes improving data collection on attacks and threats against health services, incorporating practical measures to ensure compliance with international law in military doctrine and training, expanding domestic law to incorporate legal obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, and restricting the sale and export of arms to known offenders. Governments should report regularly on measures taken to comply with these and other legal obligations, Human Rights Watch said.
For more than 25 years, Human Rights Watch has documented illegal attacks on health during conflicts, highlighting their serious consequences as well as their lasting impact on human rights well after the end of the conflict.
- In Syria, illegal attacks by the Assad government and Russian forces on health facilities and personnel have been a defining feature of the nearly 14-year war. These attacks have had lasting negative consequences on the country’s health system, and the path to recovery remains uncertain.
- In Myanmar, the military junta has hampered access to life-saving medical products and services and decimated the health system since the 2021 coup, particularly in opposition-controlled parts of the country. Years of illegal attacks on health services by the military junta have hampered emergency efforts to effectively respond to the March 2025 earthquake, which left thousands dead and injured.
- In Gaza, repeated illegal attacks by Israeli authorities against medical facilities and personnel have led to ” total collapse » of the health system. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza – mostly children – continue to suffer from water-borne diseases, largely due to the intentional destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure throughout the conflict.
- In Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked critical civilian health infrastructure, including hospitals and water facilities. The warring parties have deliberately obstructed the delivery of aid and targeted aid workers. In August 2025, the organization Médecins Sans Frontières was forced to close one of its hospitals in Darfur despite an ongoing cholera epidemic, following an armed attack inside the establishment. In March 2026, an attack on the Al Deain University Hospital in eastern Darfur left at least 64 dead and dozens injured.
- In Ukraine, Russian forces have intensified attacks on health infrastructure, affecting more than 2,665 facilities and staff. In occupied areas, Russian authorities have also restricted access to health care in order to force residents to accept Russian passports, and to illegally reinforce the imposition of Russian laws and administrative structures.
- The United States, Israel and Iran have frappé civil infrastructure essential to health, including power plants, desalination plants and bridges. These attacks, which violated the laws of war, will likely have lasting negative consequences on the health and environment of civilians, Human Rights Watch said.
International law grants special protective status to hospitals and other medical establishments, health personnel and medical transport, such as ambulances. Health facilities, personnel and means of transport only lose their protected status if they are used outside of their humanitarian function to commit acts harmful to the opposing party. These attacks may nevertheless be illegal if they are indiscriminate or disproportionate. The law also prohibits attacks against civilian infrastructure essential to the survival of the population, such as power plants and water supply facilities.
Human Rights Watch also highlighted that such attacks are likely to violate international human rights law, particularly the right to health. Under this right, which applies in times of conflict alongside humanitarian law, States must respect certain fundamental obligations which constitute the essential minimum levels of these rights, non-compliance with which cannot be justified, even in times of conflict. The fundamental minimum levels of the right to health include non-discriminatory access to health facilities, goods and services; food, shelter and housing; sanitation and drinking water; as well as essential medicines.
« Even in times of war, the right to health must remain intact », concluded Julia Bleckner. « The evidence of attacks on health services during times of conflict is overwhelming. The only question is whether countries will act against these violations, or whether they will remain silent and allow these attacks to continue with impunity.. »
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