Patients, Staff, and Supplies Must Have Access to Nasser Hospital in Gaza
- ACRI
- Jul 7
- 3 min read
Nasser hospital is the last functioning medical center in southern Gaza. On June 2, 2025, the army issued an evacuation order for the area where Nasser Hospital is located. While the hospital itself was not required to evacuate, access to it was critically impaired. Concerns about the hospital's ability to work have been mounting, particularly against the backdrop of major damage to at least ten hospitals throughout Gaza in recent weeks.
On June 26, 2025, ACRI, together with the Center for the Protection of the Individual, Physicians for Human Rights, and Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, petitioned the Supreme Court demanding safe and continuous access to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, for patients and wounded; medical and support staff; as well as for the delivery of food, equipment, and supplies.
The petition describes the state of Gaza's health system, which stands on the brink of collapse: most hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza are not operational due to army attacks, the killing and arrest of medical personnel, damage to buildings as a result of bombings, or lack of equipment and staffing. The hospitals that are still working are completely dependent on generators. There is an acute shortage of treatment and hospitalization beds, and as a result, during mass casualty events patients are lying on the floor, or side by side on mattresses. Doctors and international organizations have reported on the inability to reach the wounded, seriously wounded and sick patients who do not receive treatment due to the severe shortage of medications and medical equipment, and being forced to perform medical procedures without anesthetics and disinfectants.
The petition argues that damaging hospitals, creating conditions in which they are unable to provide life-saving medical treatment, and causing prolonged and unnecessary physical suffering to the civilian population are all violations of international law, which requires that protection be granted to patients and the wounded as well as to medical facilities and medical staff, even during combat, and that combatants refrain from harming their vital and life-saving work. A systematic, conscious, and deliberate policy of preventing medical treatment and furthering the suffering of patients and wounded amounts to a war crime.
In response to the petition, the State claimed that the army does not issue evacuation orders to residents in Gaza. Instead, it only "reflects" to them the risks of remaining in various areas, and leaves them to decide whether or not to evacuate. It further argued that the army makes extensive efforts to enable the operation of medical services in Gaza. In our response to the State's notice, we argued that these general and vague statements are not sufficient to dispel the claims regarding the unlawful harm done to Nasser Hospital's operations. We argued that according to international law, a combatant seeking to justify harm to medical institutions, especially when it comes to severe and ongoing harm, is obligated to prove that it did everything in its power to protect the population, and that the harm was necessary for military reasons. We asserted that the State did not meet this burden of proof regarding the harm done to the health system in Gaza.
HCJ 63156-06-25 The Association for Civil Rights in Israel v. Minister of Defense
Attorney: Reut Shaer
The petition, June 26, 2025 (Heb)
Notice on behalf of the State, July 2025 (Heb)
Petitioners' Response, July 2025 (Heb)
For a full list of articles and legal correspondence (Heb) about this case, see here.
We have not forgotten: 🛑 Stop the killing and starvation in Gaza 🛑 Stop the abandonment of the hostages 🛑 End the war. Now.
