ICN says deliberate targeting of health care workers in global conflicts is an alarming and dangerous new trend

23 April 2025
WS 11

International Council of Nurses Chief Executive Officer Howard Catton has warned that the deliberate targeting of health care workers and facilities in modern war zones marks a disturbing and escalating assault on humanitarian norms.

Speaking in an interview with Turkish news agency Anadolu Ajansi, he said that from Gaza to Sudan to Ukraine, International Humanitarian Laws are being ignored, and what were once considered rare and accidental tragedies, now appear to be calculated and intentional components of military action.

Mr Catton emphasized: “Suddenly it feels as though attacks on nurses, other staff and health care facilities are a deliberate part of some countries’ military strategies. Until recently, this would have been unimaginable.”

Mr Catton said there was growing concern over systematic attacks on medical infrastructure, including a recent Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital. The hospital, at the time one of the last functional medical facilities in central Gaza, was hit by two missiles, devastating its emergency room, surgical unit and oxygen station.

Mr Catton said nurses and other staff “remain beacons of hope at a time when humanitarian norms are breaking down and our humanity risks being sucked out of us”. He emphasised that they had already been working in dire conditions, with minimal medical supplies and the constant threat of violence:

“These are unimaginable conditions in which to be trying to provide health care: no medicines, no oxygen, no beds, no surgical tools, not even any painkillers.”

Mr Catton said the destruction was placing an enormous emotional burden on local nurses and other health care workers, many of whom were treating relatives, friends and neighbours amid the chaos. He also criticized the short notice reportedly given for the evacuation before the attack - just 20 to 30 minutes – which was insufficient for safely moving patients or staff.

“International humanitarian law requires notice long enough for safe evacuation. And there must be proportionality. What’s the justification for striking the last remaining hospital?”

Mr Catton also raised concerns over a broader global pattern in which health care services are no longer seen as neutral sanctuaries. “It no longer feels like collateral damage - it feels as though health workers are the target.”

He also condemned the international community’s muted response. “At the very time we need them to speak the most, leaders seem most afraid of what they might say.”

Mr Catton urged global leaders to reaffirm their commitment to protecting health care in conflict zones, because failing to do so would mean they were complicit in the normalization of attacks on health care staff and facilities.