31 hospital damaged or destroyed in Gaza

(Patria) - Since October 7, 2023, 31 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, EU leaders announced, calling on the Israeli army to stop attacks on vital health facilities for civilians.

In a joint statement by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management and Humanitarian Aid Janez Lenarčič, it is emphasized that 31 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.

"Access to emergency medical care is even more important at a time when Palestinians in Gaza are living under constant bombardment and more than nine thousand severely injured people are at risk of death due to lack of adequate healthcare," Borrell and Lenarčič stated.

In #Gaza, 31 of 36 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed since the start of the war.

Attacks against health-care workers, hospitals and ambulances deprive people of life-saving treatment: they must end.

My statement with @JanezLenarcichttps://t.co/Mbwd19H75e

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) May 20, 2024

They presented data that the World Health Organization (WHO) has registered 890 attacks on health facilities since October 7, of which 443 were in Gaza and 447 in the West Bank. They add that attacks are directed at healthcare workers, hospitals, and ambulances.

They also emphasize that more than 50 health facilities and 300 ambulances have been deliberately damaged in the occupied West Bank, and that there is concern about attacks on health services.

"A human tragedy is unfolding in real-time before our eyes. The EU is deeply concerned about the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza," Borrell and Lenarčič said in a joint statement.