NEW YORK/JERUSALEM, August 31, 2024 — Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is alarmed by the scale and intensity of Israel's ongoing incursion in Tulkarm, Jenin, and Tubas in the West Bank that began on August 28. This incursion, which has killed at least 20 Palestinians, is reported to be Israel's largest in the West Bank in more than 20 years.
"While the scale of this incursion across the north of the West Bank is unlike what we have seen before, the reality on the ground for many people affected is that these incursions are moments of terror that they have lived again and again," said Caroline Willemen, MSF project coordinator.
Israel must adhere to its obligations as an occupying power in the West Bank, including ensuring access to medical care. Instead, forces have obstructed access to health facilities and blocked—and even targeted—ambulances, delaying people’s access to medical services. Hospitals, ambulances, and the medical humanitarian mission must be respected and protected.
In the MSF-supported Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin, which has been surrounded by Israeli forces since the start of the incursion, electricity and water supplies are compromised. The medical team has been forced to halt dialysis operations, which is key for the treatment of kidney failure.
In Tulkarm, after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, MSF teams saw destruction in the camps and heard disturbing reports from an MSF-trained volunteer who was beaten and interrogated by Israeli authorities.
"[MSF-trained first responders] have reported to us the extreme difficulties that they face to access patients during this incursion," Willemen said. "Access to health care continues to be gravely obstructed in those moments. They spoke to us about bullets flying around them as they tried to access patients, and not being able to reach some of the patients who were in need of medical care."
Military incursions by Israeli forces in the West Bank have been increasing in violence, frequency, and length since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Israeli forces regularly raid Palestinian areas across the territory and have increased checkpoints and movement restrictions. Additionally, medical and paramedical staff are being repeatedly attacked, harassed, blocked, and hindered as they attempt to care for wounded people. The Jenin refugee camp in particular has become a major target of Israeli military operations, including air strikes, as Israeli forces seek to eliminate militants of armed groups.
MSF operations in the West Bank are focused on providing emergency care, primary health care via mobile clinics, and mental health care—including psychological first aid—in Hebron, Nablus, and Jenin.
