Palestine: Israeli forces and settlers ramp up violence against Palestinians in West Bank

It’s 2.30 am and doctors are huddling outside the entrance to Jenin hospital in the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A brief lull in the ricocheting gunfire is followed by the sound of men shouting and the screeching of tyres as a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw, or tuk-tuk, turns into the gates of the hospital. Soon, the bundle of bloody bodies on the back starts to take shape.

Young men with bullet holes in their abdomens and lower thighs are laid on stretchers and pushed to the emergency room where they are examined, bandaged and rushed to the operating theatre.

“Most of the patients we receive have been shot in the abdomen and the legs,” says Dr Pedro Serrano, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) intensive care unit doctor. “Some have had their liver and spleen shattered while others have severe vascular injuries.

“We had one very sad case of a guy who was walking just outside the hospital entrance when he was shot in the head by a sniper. The violence is ongoing and most patients we receive have life-threatening injuries.”

Healthcare under attack

Since the deadly war on Gaza began on 7 October, there has been an overspill of violence across the West Bank.

In Jenin, MSF emergency doctors have been called to the public hospital nearly every night, as Israeli incursions with tanks and ground troops batter the city.

MSF teams visit these displacement centres to donate medical supplies, including medications for non-communicable diseases, and offer mental health support.

Some patients have told MSF staff that they were beaten, humiliated and abused while being detained by Israeli forces in the weeks since 7 October.

“We have treated some patients who showed signs of being tied up and beaten, reportedly by Israeli forces,” says Yanis Anagnostou, MSF mental health activity manager in Jenin. “They report being tormented for several hours before being left at the West Bank border.”

Violence and forced displacement 

In Hebron governorate, in the south of the West Bank, violence involving Israeli forces and settlers, forcible displacement and restrictions on people's movements have impacted every aspect of Palestinians’ everyday lives.

Local people have told MSF teams, who have worked in the area since 2001, how they feel unsafe even walking down their own streets and how their access to basic services, including food markets and healthcare, is heavily restricted.

Since 7 October, at least 111 Palestinian families, comprising around 905 people, have had no choice but to leave their homes in the West Bank due to violence and intimidation by Israeli forces and settlers, according to the UN.

In South Hebron Hills, among the dozens of families displaced from their homes, two families were forced to leave after settlers burnt their home, stole solar panels and water barrels, and cut water pipes.

Our teams responded by providing mental health care and displacement kits to those affected.

MSF teams based in Hebron are also providing families with essential relief items, including blankets, mattresses and heaters, as well as offering mental health support to people who have been exposed to violence or forcibly displaced from their homes.

“One woman, whose home was burned to the ground, told me how unsafe, afraid and insecure she still feels,” says Mariam Qabas, MSF health promotion supervisor in Hebron.

“She told me: ‘I never thought of leaving my land or house like this, but I cannot risk my sons and my family. I cannot see the future; I feel helpless and powerless.’

“These are completely normal reactions to such abnormal circumstances, where people are facing intense violence and insecurity.”

MSF urges Israeli authorities to show restraint in the West Bank, to put an end to the violence and forced displacements of Palestinians and to stop implementing restrictive measures that impede the ability of Palestinians to access basic services, including medical care.

Ceasefire needed now

As the bombardments and collective punishment of people in Gaza continue unabated, and the lawlessness and bloodshed spills over to the West Bank, the need for a ceasefire and humanitarian truce is more desperate than ever.

Zouhir, like many other Gazans displaced across the West Bank, has been following the events in Gaza from a crowded sports hall in Jenin, where he and hundreds of other displaced workers sleep.

“Today, our suffering is that we are away from our children and our families,” he says. “We speak to our children back in Gaza and we cry. I wish they would send me back to Gaza, where my children and grandchildren are. Our suffering is that we are powerless, and we can’t do anything.”