Rights group warns Israel’s policies are pushing the West Bank healthcare system to collapse
Physicians for Human Rights Israel says 75% of public clinics and hospitals have cut hours as withheld revenues and movement limits restrict care.
- On Thursday, Physicians for Human Rights Israel warned that Israeli policies have pushed the West Bank health system to the brink of collapse, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians struggling to access essential medical care.
- Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich withheld at least $2.5 billion in tax revenues since 2023, forcing 75% of Palestinian Authority public health facilities to reduce operations as they struggle to pay staff and purchase medications.
- Harsher Israeli movement restrictions, including new checkpoints and raids, further impede access to care, leaving patients like 70-year-old Bassam Musleh unable to fill heart medication prescriptions at public dispensaries that are currently out of stock.
- Delays at military checkpoints have resulted in preventable deaths, including a 30-year-old woman and a stillborn infant, though the Israeli military denied preventing treatment, claiming emergency vehicles failed to complete "required coordination."
- Aid groups like PHRI report patient volume at mobile clinics has doubled to around 500 daily, yet organizations lack funds to scale services and face ongoing restrictions on importing necessary medical supplies.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Palestinian public health centers operate only once or twice a week, hospitals are overwhelmed and only handle emergencies, doctors are only partially paid, and there are shortages of medicine. A report by the NGO Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) points to the responsibility of the Israeli authorities, who refuse to pay customs duties collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. The withholding of these tax revenues jeopardizes acc…
Washington Top News
Rights group warns Israel’s policies are pushing the West Bank healthcare system to collapse
IKTABA, West Bank (AP) — For six months, 70-year-old Bassam Musleh searched desperately for a pharmacy or clinic that could fill his prescription for blood…
Associated Press News
Rights group warns Israel's policies are pushing the West Bank healthcare system to collapse
A new report by Physicians for Human Rights Israel warns that Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank have pushed the territory’s health system to the brink of collapse.
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