[News] Israel vs. Iran: Who is Attacking Hospitals? A Healthcare War Crimes Fact-Check

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-vs-iran-who-is-attacking-hospitals-a-healthcare-war-crimes-fact-check/>
Israel vs. Iran: Who is Attacking Hospitals? A Healthcare War Crimes
Fact-CheckJune 19, 2025
------------------------------
An Iranian ballistic missile hit the vicinity of the Soroka Military
Hospital in Beersheba. (Photo: video grab, via social media)

*By Romana Rubeo <https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/romana-rubeo>*


While Israel levels war crime allegations against Iran, its own actions in
Gaza constitute blatant violations of international humanitarian law.

Israeli media reported on Thursday that an Iranian ballistic missile struck
the Soroka Medical Center in Bir Al-Saba (Beersheba), in southern Israel,
as sirens sounded across the country following a new wave barrage from Iran.

A spokesperson for the medical center claimed that there has been damage in
several areas of the hospital, which has been extensively used to treat
Israeli soldiers wounded in Gaza.

Rescue teams have been reportedly operating to help people trapped in an
elevator, according to the Israel Fire and Rescue Service.
*Was the Hospital the Main Target?*

Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported on Thursday that the main target
of the attack was the Israeli occupation army’s Command, Control,
Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (IOF C4I) headquarters.

The military intelligence base targeted in the recent strike is located
within the Gav-Yam technology park, adjacent to Soroka Hospital.

The site, according to the Lebanese news network Al Mayadeen, hosts
thousands of military personnel, digital command centers, cyber warfare
units, and the Zionist army’s C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications,
Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) systems.

Al Mayadeen also reported that Soroka Hospital was affected by the blast
wave, but it reportedly sustained no major damage as the strike was a
direct and highly accurate hit on a key military installation.

Israeli emergency services also confirmed that a nearby biological research
facility—classified as a sensitive security site—was struck in the attack.
*Katz: It is a War Crime*

Following the strike, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has vowed that
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will be “held accountable” for what he
described as “war crimes”.

“The cowardly Iranian dictator sits deep within a fortified bunker and
deliberately launches attacks at hospitals and civilian areas in Israel,”
Katz stated, according to Israeli media.

He described the strike as “one of the worst kinds of war crimes,” warning
that Khamenei “will be held accountable for his crimes.”

Katz added that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have instructed
the Israeli military to intensify its attacks on strategic sites in Iran,
including government-linked targets in Tehran, with the stated aim of
“eliminating threats to the State of Israel and destabilizing the ayatollah
regime.”

*Israel’s Systematic Targeting of Hospitals*

Since the war began in October 2023, Israel has carried out a systematic
assault on Gaza’s healthcare system, repeatedly targeting hospitals,
clinics, medical infrastructure, healthcare workers, and even ambulances.

According to data
<https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiODAxNTYzMDYtMjQ3YS00OTMzLTkxMWQtOTU1NWEwMzE5NTMwIiwidCI6ImY2MTBjMGI3LWJkMjQtNGIzOS04MTBiLTNkYzI4MGFmYjU5MCIsImMiOjh9>
released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 14, out of Gaza’s
36 hospitals, none are fully operational. 17 are offering limited services,
while the remaining nineteen have ceased functioning entirely.

Additionally, the broader healthcare system in Gaza—including ambulances,
field hospitals, and clinics—has been targeted in over 700 attacks since
the war began, resulting in at least 900 deaths and more than 1,000
injuries.

In an interview
<https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiODAxNTYzMDYtMjQ3YS00OTMzLTkxMWQtOTU1NWEwMzE5NTMwIiwidCI6ImY2MTBjMGI3LWJkMjQtNGIzOS04MTBiLTNkYzI4MGFmYjU5MCIsImMiOjh9>
with NBC News on June 14, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that:

“Nearly all hospitals in Gaza are now damaged or destroyed, and half of
them are no longer operational”.

Speaking with the Palestine Chronicle last February, Dr. Mads Gilbert, a
Norwegian physician with extensive experience in Gaza, highlighted this
pattern: “To destroy health care is, in a way, to attack the inner spirit
of the resistance, in my opinion. And what we have seen in Gaza is
unprecedented in any modern warfare,” he said.

*Timeline of ‘Bloody Massacres’*

The following timeline outlines major Israeli assaults on hospitals and
Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure.

*October 17, 2023*

Hundreds of Palestinians sheltering in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Baptist
Hospital were killed in what Palestinian health officials described as an
Israeli attack.

In the days leading up to the strike, the hospital’s director had
reportedly received warnings from Israeli authorities.

*November 3, 2023*

An Israeli airstrike targeted an ambulance convoy outside Al-Shifa
Hospital, killing numerous Palestinians.

*November 21, 2023*

An air strike on Al-Awda Hospital claimed the lives of three doctors: Dr.
Mahmoud Abu Nujaila and Dr. Ahmad al-Sahar of Médecins Sans Frontières
(Doctors Without Borders), and Dr. Ziad al-Tatari.

*January 22, 2024*

Several Palestinians were killed approximately 150 meters from the entrance
of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. Those sheltering in the area were
subjected to nearby fighting and evacuation orders.

*March 20, 2024*

The Israeli military reported killing 90 people during a raid on Al-Shifa
Hospital. Displaced Palestinians inside described mass detentions and
abuse.

The Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas condemned the raid as a “bloody
massacre,” saying patients, civilians, and displaced people were among the
dead.

*March 31, 2024*

An Israeli airstrike hit the yard of Al-Aqsa Hospital, near the emergency
room where displaced Palestinians were sheltering. Many were killed or
injured.

*April 1, 2024*

A 14-day Israeli siege on Al-Shifa Hospital ended with hundreds of people
killed, including medical staff, and the mass arrest of healthcare workers
and civilians. The hospital, Gaza’s largest, was left devastated.

*October 14, 2024*

An Israeli airstrike on Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah killed five
Palestinians and wounded 65 others. Fires broke out in the tents of
displaced people who were sleeping at the time.

*December 28, 2024*

Israeli forces arrested Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan
Hospital, after he refused to evacuate one of northern Gaza’s last
functioning hospitals.  Dr. Abu Safiya is still detained in an Israeli
prison and reportedly subject to systematic torture and abuse.

His arrest followed a large-scale raid in which Israeli troops killed about
20 Palestinians and detained around 240 others—an operation the army
described as one of its largest in Gaza up to that point.

*November 2024*

Israeli forces laid siege to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia for
several days. The facility was left in ruins, with bodies decomposing amid
the destruction.

*January 4, 2025*

Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced that the Indonesian Hospital in
northern Gaza was rendered non-operational following repeated Israeli
attacks.

*March 23, 2025*

15 Palestinian medics with the Palestine Red Crescent Society were
reportedly shot and killed by Israeli forces during a rescue mission in the
Tal as-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah.

Video evidence recovered from one of the medics’ mobile phones implicated
Israeli troops, sparking widespread condemnation.

It is worth noting that on June 16, Israeli occupation forces also targeted
Al-Farabi Hospital in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah—marking a
significant escalation in the ongoing war, following a series of strikes on
civilian and residential infrastructure across Iran.
*Cover for War Crimes*

Israel has systematically sought to justify its attacks on Gaza’s hospitals
by alleging the presence of Hamas fighters within medical facilities—a
claim used as cover for its blatant war crimes.

Under international law, even the presence of combatants does not justify
strikes on hospitals unless strict conditions are met, including clear
military necessity and the absence of civilians—conditions Israel has
consistently failed to demonstrate.

Additionally, no verifiable evidence has been provided to support these
claims.

It is worth noting that while Katz now accuses Iran of war crimes, he has
repeatedly justified Israeli massacres targeting Gaza’s hospitals under the
pretext of fighting Hamas.

On May 13, for example, following an Israeli airstrike on the European
Hospital in Khan Yunis, which resulted in at least 28 fatalities and scores
of injuries, Katz said: “We will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization
to use hospitals and humanitarian facilities in Gaza as shelters and
terrorist headquarters.”

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


*– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The
Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and
academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and
Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20250619/d9d449ff/attachment.htm>