‘Roadblocks, Permit Denials’ Escalating Health Crisis in West Bank – WHO

June 27, 2025 News
Palestinian families are being forced out of their homes in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: QNN)

Since October 2023, the WHO has documented 844 attacks on healthcare facilities in the West Bank, resulting in 31 deaths and 168 injuries.

The health crisis in the occupied West Bank is rapidly deteriorating, with mounting restrictions on access to care, attacks on medical services, and critical shortages of supplies, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday.

Of 559 health facilities assessed by WHO in June, 71 face partial accessibility due to insecurity and physical barriers, said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO spokesperson in the occupied Palestinian territory, according to the Anadolu news agency.

Peeperkorn warned that new roadblocks, checkpoint delays, and permit denials are obstructing access for patients and ambulances, particularly in Jenin, Hebron, Nablus, and Salfit.

844 Attacks on Healthcare Facilities

Since October 2023, he said the WHO has documented 844 attacks on healthcare facilities in the West Bank, resulting in 31 deaths and 168 injuries.

“They include attacks on health infrastructure and ambulances, detention of health workers and patients, obstruction of their access to health facilities, use of force on health workers and militarized searches of ambulances and staff,” Peeperkorn reportedly said.

Only 345 out of 476 government health units remain fully functional.

WHO cited staff shortages due to unpaid salaries, and near-zero stock levels for essential items. According to the Ministry of Health, 16 percent of the total essential medicines, 14% of medical consumables, and 9% of laboratory supplies are at zero stock balance, he added.

‘Barriers to Healthcare’

Meanwhile, Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) warned in a recent statement that Israel’s increased military operations in Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarem governorates, along with additional troop deployments, “have led to heightened restrictions on Palestinians.”

MSF warned that these actions “exacerbate the already dire situation for Palestinians in the West Bank, who face significant barriers to accessing healthcare and essential services, especially since October 2023.”

The organization has suspended mobile clinics in Hebron (al-Khalil) and Nablus that provide mental health, sexual reproductive care, and basic healthcare “due to these checkpoint closures and security concerns from the intensified military operations.”

In Jenin and Tulkarem, mobile clinics had to adapt working hours, running on some days, not others, “because of Israeli forces’ presence in nearby villages.”

This has forced patients to rely on phone consultations, MSF stated.

The organization urged an immediate halt to measures that “contribute to forced displacement and a system of annexation, including prolonged military presence, movement restrictions, demolitions, excessive use of force, and denial of basic services.”

Medical Supplies Enter Gaza

Meanwhile, in Gaza, the spokesperson said the WHO delivered its first medical shipment since March on June 25, with nine trucks carrying blood, plasma, and other supplies.

“These are only a drop in the ocean. Aid at scale is essential to save lives,” said Luca Pigozzi from WHO Gaza, calling for “immediate, unimpeded, and sustained delivery of health aid into Gaza through all possible routes.”

Emergency Medical Teams have conducted nearly 3 million consultations since December 2023 but now face severe restrictions, including denied entry and supply blockades, WHO warned.

At a press conference on Friday, a WHO official said the situation in Gaza “is beyond catastrophic.”

“Only 17 hospitals are functioning even partially out of 36 across the Strip, with no hospitals operating in the North of Gaza or Rafah,” the official stated.

(Anadolu, PC)

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