Israel Imposing Obstacles to Palestinians Seeking Medical Care: WHO Report
Key Highlights :
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a report titled “Right to Health” which reveals that Israel is posing increasing obstacles to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip seeking medical care. The report found a slew of instances in the years 2019-2021 wherein security restrictions delayed or prevented Palestinians in the two separate territories from receiving medical attention. It has called on Israel to “end the arbitrary delay and denial of permits for Palestinian patients” throughout the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
According to WHO, only 65 percent of applications for patients in Gaza to leave the coastal enclave are approved by Israel, while ambulances face an average waiting time of 68 minutes at the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza. The Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civilian affairs in the occupied territories, COGAT, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War and Gaza is under an Israeli blockade that strictly controls the passage of people and goods. Israel operates a stringent permit regime for Palestinians seeking to leave the territories for health care. The WHO expressed concern over 385 interrogations by Israeli security forces of patients and their companions leaving the Gaza Strip in the period covered. Ambulances are often unable to cross checkpoints and so transferring patients from Palestinian ambulances to Israeli ambulances can be delayed, the report said.
The report also called on Israel to “facilitate entry of all essential medicines and medical supplies” to the impoverished Gaza Strip. Israel bans the transfer of goods to Gaza which it deems could be used for military purposes, as part of the blockade it has imposed since the armed group Hamas took power in 2007. A significant number of medical supplies, such as spare parts for X-ray machines and CT scanners, fall into this dual-usage category, causing shortages at hospitals in Gaza. About 2.9 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, and around 2.3 million in Gaza.
The report finds that Palestinians are facing various obstacles in receiving medical care due to Israel’s occupation and blockade. The WHO has called on Israel to end the arbitrary delay and denial of permits for Palestinian patients throughout the occupied West Bank and Gaza, as well as to facilitate the entry of essential medicines and medical supplies to the impoverished Gaza Strip. It is essential for the Israeli government to take immediate action to ensure that Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza have access to the medical care they need.
