Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in the United States (co-publishing with the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School [GHRC]) and Physicians for Human Rights -Israel (PHRI) published two independent reports documenting the severe harm to women and children’s health in Gaza since October 7, 2023, when Hamas’ brutal attacks on […]
Executive Summary After Hamas’ brutal October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, subsequent Israeli military operations in Gaza have caused devastation and displacement. Beginning early in the conflict, humanitarian actors and civil society raised significant concerns about the likely impact on the health and survival of pregnant women1 and infants – two groups granted specific protection […]
Israel must urgently allow food, medicine, and aid to reach people in Gaza, notwithstanding the downgrading of food insecurity conditions in Gaza to Level 4 (Emergency) from Level 5 (Catastrophe) by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) today, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School (GHRC). PHR and GHRC have interviewed scores of clinicians in Gaza […]
Israel must immediately lift its restrictions on food to some 2 million people in Gaza – including the entire population of 320,000 children under the age of five – and ensure the delivery of medical supplies and other aid necessary to address mass starvation, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Global Human Rights Clinic […]
The Israeli government’s restrictions on medical supplies entering Gaza have led to preventable suffering and death, according to a new study published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Global Human Rights Clinic (GHRC) at the University of Chicago Law School. “Throughout this war, Israel’s limits on life-saving medical supplies – such as […]
July 9, 2025
Attacks on Health Care, Persecution of Health Workers
At every point in their effort to provide care in Gaza, volunteer health care professionals face systematic practices and policies that directly impact their ability to prevent suffering and loss.
What does international law say about access to medical supplies in conflict zones? What is the obligation of parties to a conflict to ensure access to health care supplies? Medical supplies are never to be used strategically in warfare. In times of conflict, all parties to the conflict must both “allow and facilitate rapid and […]
In response to United Nations (UN) reports that Israeli forces killed 15 medical and humanitarian workers and buried them in a mass grave in southern Gaza, the following statement is attributable to Sam Zarifi, JD, executive director at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR): “The reported killings and burial of 15 health and humanitarian workers […]
The recent military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah is resulting in widespread and mounting harms to civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, health workers, patients, and the broader health system. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) joins the deans of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB) to call for immediate […]
As the Middle East faces escalating regional conflict on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) urgently calls on all parties to adhere to international law and protect civilians from harm. The attack by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups on Israel killed 1,139 people […]
