The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition said on Monday that hospitals, ambulances, doctors, nurses and patients in war zones especially in Yemen became targets in more than 700 separate attacks worldwide in 2017.
Leonard Rubenstein, Chair of Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, said the findings demonstrate the international community's failure to hold countries accountable for violating a 2016 United Nations resolution intended to protect healthcare facilities and workers in war.
"It is really an abdication of responsibility that governments which adopted this important resolution at the security council two years ago haven't taken the steps that really could prevent these attacks. They could reform their military practice. They could conduct investigations. They could hold perpetrators accountable. They could stop selling arms to major violators like Saudi Arabia -- the United States and the United Kingdom still sell weapons advanced weapons to Saudi Arabia, which is indiscriminately bombing in Yemen," he said.
The report was released to coincide with The United Nations Security Council review of Resolution 2286, two years after its adoption.
The escalating fighting in Yemen has created a large-scale humanitarian emergency, with the war and blockade by the Saudi-led coalition taking a heavy toll on civilians. The collapse of the health system and the deterioration of living conditions have had a devastating effect on the population.
The blockade, which began in 2015 and was strengthened in December 2017, is still affecting imports of commercial goods and some humanitarian aid. It has restricted access to food, water, and health care for Yemenis
