‘Healthocide’: experts warn of rise in targeting of health services in conflict

A medical staff member prays in a room designated for sterilising surgical tools, which also serves as a rest and prayer space for doctors and staff, at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, last month. Photograph: Jehad Alshrafi/AP

Targeting medics and hospitals in acts of war should be called “healthocide”, academics have urged, amid an increase in such attacks in recent years.

Health services are increasingly deliberately under attack and medics are facing violence and abuse in conflict zones around the world – in particular in Gaza, but also in Lebanon, Ukraine, Sudan and Syria.