The World Health Organisation (WHO) says attacks on healthcare facilities and staff are increasing globally, with a notable uptick recorded since the recent conflict in the Middle East began, Reuters reports.

Before the US-Israeli strikes at the end of February, attacks globally on such facilities and staff averaged about 3.7 per day, but that has now increased to 4.3, the body says.

“This is clearly showing that healthcare is the target,” Altaf Musani, the Director of Emergency Health Interventions at the WHO, tells reporters in Geneva.

The attacks include airstrikes and shelling of hospitals and clinics as well as arrests and intimidation of healthcare workers.

“When healthcare is needed most, it is being attacked … these attacks are having a deep impact on functionality,” Musani says.

Since the recent conflict in the Middle East began, 50 hospitals and private healthcare centres have been closed, and 16 hospitals have been damaged across the region, according to the WHO.