Nearly two weeks into the latest escalation of conflict across the Middle East, health systems throughout the region are buckling under mounting pressure. Rising casualties, mass displacement, attacks on health facilities and growing public health threats are straining already fragile services, according to WHO.

 

National health authorities report heavy losses. In Iran, more than 1300 people have been killed and 9000 injured. Lebanon has recorded at least 570 deaths and more than 1400 injuries, while in Israel authorities report 15 deaths and 2142 injuries.

 

But the fighting is also striking the very systems meant to save lives. Since 28 February, the World Health Organization has verified 18 attacks on health care in Iran, leaving eight health workers dead. In Lebanon, 25 attacks on health facilities over the same period have killed 16 people and injured 29 others.

 

These assaults are compounding the crisis on the ground. Health workers, patients and health facilities must always be protected under international humanitarian law, WHO stresses.

 

The conflict is also triggering a widening public health emergency. In Iran, more than 100,000 people have relocated within the country due to insecurity. Lebanon faces an even larger displacement crisis, with up to 700,000 people internally displaced, many sheltering in overcrowded facilities with deteriorating sanitation and limited access to safe water.

 

Such conditions sharply increase the risk of disease outbreaks. These conditions, WHO says, increase the risk of respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, and other communicable illnesses, especially for the most vulnerable populations, such as women and children.

 

Environmental hazards are emerging as another danger. Petroleum fires and smoke from damaged infrastructure in Iran have exposed nearby communities to toxic pollutants that can trigger respiratory illness, eye and skin irritation, and contamination of food and water supplies.

 

At the same time, access to medical care is shrinking. In Lebanon, 49 primary health care centres and five hospitals have closed following evacuation orders issued by Israel’s military, cutting essential services just as medical needs surge.

 

Across the occupied Palestinian territory, tighter movement restrictions and checkpoint closures are delaying ambulances and mobile clinics in parts of the West Bank. In Gaza, medical evacuations have been suspended since 28 February, while hospitals struggle with severe shortages of medicines, supplies and fuel. Remaining fuel is being rationed to keep emergency care, trauma treatment, maternal services and infectious disease management running.

 

The crisis is also disrupting the global health supply chain. Temporary airspace restrictions have stalled shipments from the WHO’s logistics hub in Dubai. More than 50 emergency supply requests, intended to help over 1.5 million people in 25 countries, are now delayed. Priority shipments include aid bound for Al Arish in Egypt to support the Gaza response, as well as deliveries to Lebanon and Afghanistan.

 

The escalation comes as humanitarian needs across the Eastern Mediterranean were already among the highest worldwide. Some 115 million people in the region require humanitarian assistance, nearly half of all those in need globally, while health emergency appeals remain 70 percent underfunded.

 

Without stronger protection for health services, sustained humanitarian access and increased funding, officials warn the crisis will deepen.

 

Without protection for health care, sustained humanitarian access and stronger financial and operational support for the humanitarian health response, the strain on vulnerable populations and already fragile health systems will continue to grow, as per WHO.

 

WHO is urging all sides to step back from the brink. “WHO calls on all parties to protect civilians and health care, ensure unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, and pursue de-escalation of the conflict so communities can begin to recover and move towards peace.”