The International Rescue Committee releases a report on the systematic targetting of hospitals during Syria’s civil war. The report draws on new data gathered from surveys and interviews with 311 patients and health workers in northwest Syria and highlights with chilling detail how 10 years of attacks on healthcare have turned hospitals from safe havens protected under international law, into no-go zones where Syrian civilians now fear for their lives.

Human rights organizations have documented widespread and sometimes deliberate attacks by the Syrian government and its allies that have left more than half of the hospitals not fully functioning. Aid agencies are also warning health workers in rebel-controlled areas in Syria are facing challenges to support the 12 million Syrians now in need of assistance as well as deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.