"Don't Shoot Hospitals!": 10 Years Since UN Resolution Calling for Healthcare Protection in Conflicts—Governments Must Fulfill Promises
Ten years have passed since the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2286, which calls for the protection of healthcare in conflict zones. Despite this, attacks on medical facilities continue unabated worldwide. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urges governments to uphold their commitments and protect healthcare.
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- 📰 Published: May 1, 2026 at 03:50
- 🔍 Collected: April 30, 2026 at 19:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 1, 2026 at 07:16 (11h 44m after Collected)
Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, destroyed by attack = April 1, 2024 © MSF
May 3rd marks 10 years since the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286, which calls for the protection of medical activities in conflict zones. In this resolution, over 80 member states pledged to protect medical personnel, humanitarian aid workers, medical facilities, and related transport and equipment. In 2016, Japan was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and one of the co-sponsors of this resolution.
Ten years have passed since its adoption, yet attacks on healthcare continue unabated around the world. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls on governments to uphold the resolution's promises and protect healthcare at this milestone.
Nearly 2,000 people died last year in attacks on healthcare
MSF currently operates in over 70 countries and regions, including areas experiencing ongoing conflict and war such as Palestine, Lebanon, Ukraine, Sudan, and Myanmar. Over the past decade, 21 MSF staff members have lost their lives in 15 incidents due to attacks while on duty. According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Surveillance System for Attacks on Healthcare (SSA), there were 1,348 attacks on healthcare facilities in 2025 alone, resulting in 1,981 deaths.
Javid Abdelmoneim, President of MSF International, appeals:
"Attacks on healthcare, once considered exceptional, are now commonplace. The protection of medical activities in conflict zones is clearly being ignored. Countries that pledged to protect healthcare in 2016 must stop making excuses and blaming each other, and take action."
Over the past decade, attacks on healthcare have taken various forms: airstrikes on hospitals in Syria and Yemen, shelling of hospitals in Ukraine and Palestine, drone attacks on hospitals in Myanmar. And in Cameroon, Haiti, and Lebanon, vehicles clearly marked as ambulances have been attacked.
Countries that carry out these attacks often deny them, explain them as accidental bombings, or claim without evidence that the targets were no longer protected. Healthcare workers are increasingly treated as suspicious rather than protected individuals.
Burned-out car remains next to the emergency room of Abs Hospital in Hajjah Governorate, Yemen, after an airstrike = September 26, 2016 © Rawan Shaif
Healthcare is long-term deprived from communities
Attacks on healthcare cause injuries and deaths in the short term. In the long term, if medical facilities are not rebuilt or humanitarian organizations cease operations for safety reasons, communities are deprived of the healthcare that saves lives.
For example, in 2025, MSF conducted approximately 850,000 outpatient consultations in Sudan, treated about 95,600 inpatients, and assisted 29,000 births. In the Gaza Strip during the same period, MSF conducted 913,000 outpatient consultations, treated 54,000 inpatients, and provided 89,800 mental health counseling sessions. In Ukraine, MSF ambulances transported 10,700 patients, 60% of whom were war-wounded. Additionally, mobile clinics provided 45,300 outpatient consultations and 9,750 physiotherapy sessions.
If medical facilities are destroyed, making such medical activities impossible, and people cannot go out for fear and receive medical care, it is the people living there who suffer.
Action, not just words
Abdelmoneim states:
"Healthcare in conflict is under severe threat. Attacks on healthcare workers and hospitals have occurred in almost every conflict over the past decade.
MSF calls on all governments to uphold their obligations and commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 2286 and to strengthen protection and accountability. The protection guaranteed to us and our patients under international humanitarian law must be demonstrated through action, not just words."
Shinjiro Murata, Director General of MSF Japan, states:
"This resolution was partly triggered by the 2015 incident where a US airstrike bombed an MSF trauma hospital in Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of 42 precious lives. Since then, we have continued to advocate 'Don't Shoot Hospitals!' As one of the co-sponsors who led the adoption of the resolution, we hope the Japanese government, after 10 years, will once again urge the international community to demonstrate the principles of the resolution through action and fulfill its responsibilities."
Hospital in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, destroyed by attack = January 30, 2023 © Colin Delfosse
May 3rd marks 10 years since the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286, which calls for the protection of medical activities in conflict zones. In this resolution, over 80 member states pledged to protect medical personnel, humanitarian aid workers, medical facilities, and related transport and equipment. In 2016, Japan was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and one of the co-sponsors of this resolution.
Ten years have passed since its adoption, yet attacks on healthcare continue unabated around the world. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls on governments to uphold the resolution's promises and protect healthcare at this milestone.
Nearly 2,000 people died last year in attacks on healthcare
MSF currently operates in over 70 countries and regions, including areas experiencing ongoing conflict and war such as Palestine, Lebanon, Ukraine, Sudan, and Myanmar. Over the past decade, 21 MSF staff members have lost their lives in 15 incidents due to attacks while on duty. According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Surveillance System for Attacks on Healthcare (SSA), there were 1,348 attacks on healthcare facilities in 2025 alone, resulting in 1,981 deaths.
Javid Abdelmoneim, President of MSF International, appeals:
"Attacks on healthcare, once considered exceptional, are now commonplace. The protection of medical activities in conflict zones is clearly being ignored. Countries that pledged to protect healthcare in 2016 must stop making excuses and blaming each other, and take action."
Over the past decade, attacks on healthcare have taken various forms: airstrikes on hospitals in Syria and Yemen, shelling of hospitals in Ukraine and Palestine, drone attacks on hospitals in Myanmar. And in Cameroon, Haiti, and Lebanon, vehicles clearly marked as ambulances have been attacked.
Countries that carry out these attacks often deny them, explain them as accidental bombings, or claim without evidence that the targets were no longer protected. Healthcare workers are increasingly treated as suspicious rather than protected individuals.
Burned-out car remains next to the emergency room of Abs Hospital in Hajjah Governorate, Yemen, after an airstrike = September 26, 2016 © Rawan Shaif
Healthcare is long-term deprived from communities
Attacks on healthcare cause injuries and deaths in the short term. In the long term, if medical facilities are not rebuilt or humanitarian organizations cease operations for safety reasons, communities are deprived of the healthcare that saves lives.
For example, in 2025, MSF conducted approximately 850,000 outpatient consultations in Sudan, treated about 95,600 inpatients, and assisted 29,000 births. In the Gaza Strip during the same period, MSF conducted 913,000 outpatient consultations, treated 54,000 inpatients, and provided 89,800 mental health counseling sessions. In Ukraine, MSF ambulances transported 10,700 patients, 60% of whom were war-wounded. Additionally, mobile clinics provided 45,300 outpatient consultations and 9,750 physiotherapy sessions.
If medical facilities are destroyed, making such medical activities impossible, and people cannot go out for fear and receive medical care, it is the people living there who suffer.
Action, not just words
Abdelmoneim states:
"Healthcare in conflict is under severe threat. Attacks on healthcare workers and hospitals have occurred in almost every conflict over the past decade.
MSF calls on all governments to uphold their obligations and commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 2286 and to strengthen protection and accountability. The protection guaranteed to us and our patients under international humanitarian law must be demonstrated through action, not just words."
Shinjiro Murata, Director General of MSF Japan, states:
"This resolution was partly triggered by the 2015 incident where a US airstrike bombed an MSF trauma hospital in Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of 42 precious lives. Since then, we have continued to advocate 'Don't Shoot Hospitals!' As one of the co-sponsors who led the adoption of the resolution, we hope the Japanese government, after 10 years, will once again urge the international community to demonstrate the principles of the resolution through action and fulfill its responsibilities."
Hospital in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, destroyed by attack = January 30, 2023 © Colin Delfosse