‘Israel as occupying power has overall responsibility for the protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian Territories, including ensuring respect, protection, and fulfilment of their right to health in accordance with its obligations under international law.’
Aisha, aged nine, is receiving dialysis in the state-of-the-art paediatric dialysis centre at the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem. She must visit three times a week for a three-hour treatment until she can receive a kidney transplant.
Image credit: Victoria Hospital
The centre treats many children every week. Many of these children live in the West Bank outside East Jerusalem. This means that they must cross Israeli military checkpoints, where they might have to wait several hours. For this, they must be granted a special permit from the Israeli authorities, which is issued with assistance from AVH outreach clinics in the Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Hebron, and Nablus. The permit allows one accompanying adult (it was two before the violent escalations in Gaza began on 7th October 2023). The permits will only allow the use of certain checkpoints, so the journey may be long. This makes a difficult day even more difficult.
‘We have noticed that with the increased problems with travel, children are more stressed and less tolerant of their treatment. The parent with them is less able to deal with this.‘
Augusta Victoria Hospital also has the most up to date equipment for cancer diagnosis and treatment, donated by partners all over the world. They have the only radiotherapy unit in the West Bank.
Cancer patients have similar problems with travel to access their life-saving diagnosis and treatment. Those who need ambulances might need back-to-back transfers where patients are unloaded and carried across checkpoints, causing further delays.
According to Orman, a radiotherapist at the AVH;
‘Many cancer patients are diagnosed with advanced cancer when we first see them. This may be due to lack of education and lack of access to Primary Health Care services from where patients are referred.’
The Palestinian health sector consists of four main health service providers: the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), local and international health charities and Non-Government Organisations (NGO’s), and also for-profit providers, though these are accessible to few.
In hard-to-reach communities in the West Bank, such as the refugee camps, Bedouin communities, and rural communities, the services supplied by the MoH are supplemented by other agencies. This is necessary as the MoH struggles with a lack of funding from the Palestinian Authority, which is experiencing a fiscal crisis amid the escalating violence in the region. Primary health care in the refugee camps of East and West Bank Refugees is mostly provided by UNWRA.
However, the State of Israel passed a law that ordered UNRWA to vacate their head office premises in occupied East Jerusalem and cease its operations in them by 30 January 2025. According to Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF);
‘Critical services, including refugee camp management, health services, education, and social programs across the West Bank are at risk of destabilization under this legislation.’
The UNRWA health centre in Jerusalem before it’s forced closure in January 2025
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) who coordinate reproductive health services;
‘In the West Bank, mobile healthcare teams are a lifeline amid crisis.’
The mobile healthcare teams, operated by the Palestinian Medical Relief Society with support from UNFPA, deliver services to vulnerable and isolated communities throughout Area C, which makes up over 60% of the West Bank. Israel’s full military control of this area, combined with the presence of Israeli settlers – and therefore heightened military restrictions and settler violence – create significant barriers to basic healthcare for Palestinian villages in the area.
Mobile clinic in Khan al Ahmer
Abu Khamis, a spokesperson for his community at Khan al Ahmer says;
‘these clinics are very important for my community as they provide regular check-ups for people as well as supplying medicines and treating minor illnesses. Without this, people would need to travel to Jericho Hospital for medical care. This is getting much more difficult due to many checkpoint closures.’
UNFPA have identified 193 sites in Area C requiring mobile clinic support and of these 176 are covered by the service. However they state that;
‘The future is uncertain. If the current situation persists, the number of communities without mobile clinic services could rise to 96 by 2025.’
Mobile clinics provide basic medical services. They are partnered by the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA), who provide advice and support on contraception, sexual health, and gender-based violence (GBV) through a nurse and social worker.
Ammal Awadallah, executive director for PFPPA, says there has been an increase in sexual health problems and GBV since the lockdowns of COVID and after 7th October 2023 due to the rise in unemployment caused by travel bans ordered by the military and confinement of people in their homes. The clinics form a vital point of contact for these women.
‘Access to health care in the West Bank is deteriorating due to a fiscal crisis and movement restrictions, with 68 per cent of health service points now unable to function for more than two or three days a week, and hospitals functioning at only 70 per cent of their capacity.’
These problems are all in the context of worsening physical and mental health issues in the population due to poverty, stress and trauma caused by Israel’s escalating military campaign across Palestine.
Problems with delays at checkpoints and access to health care have shown a marked deterioration. This World Health Day, we urge you to take action below.
Take action!
-
Our friends at Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), Christian Aid, and Save the Children UK have launched Ally to Atrocities – a joint campaign demanding urgent action from the UK Government to end its complicity in the Israeli government’s violations of international law. Click here to access, use and share the campaign resources now.
-
Israel’s escalating attacks on medical personnel and hospitals, and the systematic denial of Palestinian’s right to health across Gaza and the West Bank is a flagrant violation of international law. Use our quick template letter to send this eyewitness story to your elected representatives and urge them to use their diplomatic influence to pressure the Israeli government to protect Palestinians right to health.
-
What is life really like in the occupied West Bank? Please take some time to educate yourself and your loved ones about life under occupation. This powerful new film by Palestinian and Israeli activists, Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham has won an Oscar: No Other Land.
What does international law say?
