There is no question that we are living in a time of intense global conflict. Wars rage around the world, and a
very concerning trend is becoming apparent:
"attacks on medical workers and health infrastructure" as a part of war are increasing at an alarming rate. Documented attacks like these have more than doubled since 2021, with
over 2,500 reported attacks last year alone across 33 countries.In Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan, and more, hospitals and health workers are being struck with alarming regularity.
Let us be clear:
bombing a civilian hospital or attacking medical staff while they aid the wounded is not just abhorrent; it is a war crime. Sign the petition to demand the International Criminal Court bring standalone war crimes charges against those who order or carry out attacks on hospitals during armed conflict.Governments accused of these attacks often claim hospitals were being used for military purposes which creates an exception, but they rarely produce evidence to back that claim. International law does not let a bare accusation excuse an attack. A target must be verified as military, any harm must be proportionate, and civilians must be warned in advance. When those steps are skipped, the law is being broken, not followed.
The stories of these attacks are heartbreaking. A midwife in Ukraine describes riding in a clearly marked ambulance to collect meals for patients on her maternity ward when a drone slammed into the vehicle and exploded, injuring her and the driver. She is now terrified to go to work, helping mothers who are forced to give birth hidden in basements as drones hover outside and bombs explode nearby.
People who are already injured or sick are killed in these explosions.
Local populations stop going to hospitals in conflict zones out of fear, leading to tragic, preventable deaths. Unassisted childbirths. Disease outbreaks. The list goes on and on. And when trained medical staff are killed in these attacks, communities suffer for decades as these gaps are incredibly difficult to fill.
No one has ever been convicted by an international court for attacking a hospital as a standalone crime -- it has only ever been folded into broader war crimes cases, buried among other charges.
That leaves commanders and forces free to calculate that bombing a hospital carries no distinct cost. Without a real risk of prosecution specifically for these attacks, there is nothing stopping the next hospital, the next maternity ward, the next ambulance from becoming a target.
Sign the petition and tell the International Criminal Court to prosecute attacks on hospitals as their own war crime, not an afterthought in a larger case.