11 March 2026, News release, Cairo/Geneva
More than ten days into the latest escalation of conflict in the Middle East, health systems across the Region are coming under strain as injuries and displacement rise, attacks on health care continue, and public health risks increase.
National health authorities in Iran report more than 1300 deaths and 9000 injuries, and in Lebanon report at least 570 deaths and more than 1400 injuries. In Israel, authorities report 15 deaths and 2142 injuries.
At the same time, the conflict is affecting the very services meant to save lives. In Iran, WHO has verified 18 attacks on health care since 28 February, resulting in 8 deaths among health workers. Over the same period in Lebanon, 25 attacks on health care have resulted in 16 deaths and 29 injuries. These attacks not only cost lives but deprive communities of care when they need it most. Health workers, patients and health facilities must always be protected under international humanitarian law.
Beyond the immediate impact, the conflict is creating wider public health risks. Current estimates indicate more than 100 000 people in Iran have relocated to other areas of the country due to insecurity, and up to 700 000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon, with many in crowded collective shelters under deteriorating public health conditions, with limited access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. These conditions increase the risk of respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, and other communicable illnesses, especially for the most vulnerable populations, such as women and children.
Environmental hazards are also a raising concern. In Iran, petroleum fires and smoke from damaged infrastructure exposed nearby communities to toxic pollutants that potentially cause breathing problems, eye and skin irritation, and contaminated water and food sources.
Access to health services is becoming increasingly constrained across several countries. In Lebanon, 49 primary health care centres and five hospitals have shut following evacuation orders issued by Israel’s military, reducing the availability of essential services as medical needs rise.
In the occupied Palestinian territory, increased movement restrictions and checkpoint closures are delaying ambulance and mobile clinics’ access across several governorates in the West Bank. In Gaza, medical evacuations remain suspended since 28 February, while hospitals continue to operate under strain amid ongoing shortages of medicines, medical supplies and fuel, which is being rationed to prioritize essential health services such as emergency and trauma care, maternal and neonatal services, and management of communicable diseases.
Temporary airspace restrictions have disrupted the movement of medical supplies from WHO’s global logistics hub in Dubai. More than 50 emergency supply requests, intended to benefit over 1.5 million people across 25 countries, are affected, resulting in significant backlogs. Current priority shipments include supplies planned for Al Arish, Egypt, to support the Gaza response, as well as Lebanon and Afghanistan. The first shipment, containing cholera response supplies for Mozambique, is expected to depart from the hub in the coming week.
The escalation comes at a time when humanitarian needs in the Eastern Mediterranean Region were already among the highest in the world. Across the Region, 115 million people require humanitarian assistance – almost half of all people in need globally – while humanitarian health emergency appeals remain 70% underfunded.
Without protection for health care, sustained humanitarian access and stronger financial and operational support for the humanitarian health response, the strain on vulnerable populations and already fragile health systems will continue to grow.
WHO calls on all parties to protect civilians and health care, ensure unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, and pursue de-escalation of the conflict so communities can begin to recover and move towards peace.
Mendocino For Palestine Responds to WHO call to action
Dear Colleagues,
We are told that there is a cease-fire in Gaza, and now a “Peace Plan” in the process of implementation. This is not true. On the contrary, since the cease-fire was announced, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 1,800 injured. This in addition to 75,000 people the journal Lancet reports killed since the Israeli onslaught began, the majority women, children and elderly.
At the same time, the systematic destruction of what is left of the Gazan infrastructure continues – homes, schools, water treatment plants, healthcare facilities and bakeries are routinely targeted.
At this time, 20,000 Palestinians await medical evacuation – many of them children and young people with amputated limbs, embedded shrapnel, burns and communicable disease.
Since the alleged reopening of the Rafah gate, only a handful have been allowed to make the crossing into Egypt. And now, as the US/Israeli war on Iran rages, all the gates are shut again, bringing back fears of starvation.
In many ways healthcare providers have borne the brunt of this catastrophe. Thirty-eight hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed or rendered non-functioning since the beginning of the assault. 1700 healthcare workers have been killed, often targeted by Israeli assassins. More than 300 healthcare workers languish in Israeli prisons, where torture is commonplace, including Dr. Abu Safia, a pediatrician and hospital director abducted as he approached an Israeli tank, hoping to save his hospital.
The siege on Gaza has prevented medical supplies like IV catheters and fluids, surgical tools, prosthetics, replacement parts for medical machinery, suction devices and oxygen tubing from coming into the strip. The Israelis prevent infant formula, fresh food, pain meds and shelter materials from entering Gaza calling these necessities “dual use.”
Still, rarely reported, the resistance continues. Palestinian and international doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers work in the face of unbelievable odds. Then, astonishingly, just this winter, 150 medical students completed their training in Gaza – this gives us hope for the future.
Gaza presents a challenge for us – healthcare providers in the US. We can help break the silence.
In the face of ongoing violence (apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide) and continued destruction of what remains of the healthcare infrastructure, and consistent with our fundamental professional and moral obligations, we can contribute to and help sustain our Palestinian brothers and sisters.
We have formed a branch of Doctors against Genocide here on the North Coast. A first project of ours, in cooperation with Mendocino for Palestine, is premiering the acclaimed film “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” a film which documents the destruction of Gaza’s hospitals and the murder of healthcare providers. Discussion to follow, led by a doctor returned from Gaza.
Please join us to bear witness and contribute to Gaza’s medical capacities. All proceeds will go towards urgent medical supplies and supporting healthcare in Gaza.
FILM SHOWING and FUNDRAISER
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack
April 18th, 7 PM (doors open at 6:30)
Valerie in Mendocino, 10546 Lansing Street
For more information, contact Faith Simon fsimon@mccinc.org or Rebecca Yaffe rebecca@yaffemays.com
Also MendoforPalestine.org or Doctorsagainstgenocide.org
