Latest Israeli Attacks on Health Workers Highlight Global Trend of Humanitarian Violation
- Human Rights Research Center
- 16 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Author: Aamnah Fatima Khan
August 24, 2026
HRRC strongly condemns all attacks, detentions and restrictions targeting healthcare and humanitarian personnel. Medical and aid workers must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law. The international community must act decisively to ensure that lifesaving assistance can be delivered safely and without obstruction.
![Palestinian Red Crescent Personnel inspect a destroyed ambulance in Deir el-Balah , Gaza Strip [Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f05ed1_827ecada829a495e9458b77e64661bc3~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_654,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/f05ed1_827ecada829a495e9458b77e64661bc3~mv2.jpg)
On August 18th, attacks and detentions involving the Palestinian healthcare intensified across the West Bank when Israeli settlers raided a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance in Hebron. The attack resulted in paralyzing nurse Mohammed Nabil Al-Mutawwar, while an assault on Doctor Majed Alyan Dwayat left him with a broken hand. Meanwhile, the Israeli forces detained doctors Dima Mohammed Amin Barakat and Mazen Al -Rantisi and raided a rehabilitation hospital in Bethlehem.
Previously, the World Health Organization (WHO) recorded 98 attacks on healthcare in the West Bank between January and July 2026, with monthly incidents rising from eight in June to 37 in July. More than 900 checkpoints, gates and roadblocks are also obstructing ambulances and patients, sometimes with fatal consequences.
However, these incidents form part of a much wider global pattern. According to a recent report published on August 19, 2026, the WHO reported more than 900 attacks on healthcare between January and August 2026–over four attacks per day–causing at least 900 deaths and 1,400 injuries. Ukraine, Lebanon and the Palestinian territory accounted for the largest share. Since the surveillance began in 2018 under the program Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA), the WHO has verified more than 10,400 attacks, yet none has led to an accountability process.
Humanitarian workers are similarly endangered worldwide. In 2025, 907 aid workers experienced violence and 350 were killed, the second-highest annual death toll recorded. Gaza remained the deadliest location for aid workers for the third consecutive year, followed by Sudan. By the start of August 2026, another 82 aid workers had been killed globally. UN officials warned drones, kidnapping, detentions and restricted humanitarian access are increasingly normalizing violence against those delivering lifesaving assistance.
Together, these cases demand urgent international action. Protecting frontline workers requires accountability and consistent enforcement of international humanitarian law.
Glossary
Accountability – the fact of being responsible for what you do and able to give a satisfactory reason for it, or the degree to which this happens.
Accounted – to give a reason or explanation for (something)
Ambulance – a special vehicle used to take sick or injured people to hospital.
Detention – the act or condition of being officially forced to stay in a place
Drone – A drone is an unmanned aircraft that can be either operated remotely or autonomously using GPS, sensors, and AI-driven software
Enforcement – the process of making people obey a law or rule, or making a particular situation happen or be accepted.
Humanitarian – (a person who is) involved in or connected with improving people's lives and reducing suffering.
Kidnapping – to take a person away illegally by force, usually in order to demand money in exchange for releasing them.
Obstructing – to block a road, passage, entrance, etc. so that nothing can go along it, or to prevent something from happening correctly by putting difficulties in its way,
Paralyzing – causing someone to lose the ability to move or feel.
Urgent – very important and needing attention immediately.
Verified – to prove that something exists or is true, or to make certain that something is correct.
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