West Bank: Medical staff targeted and killed in brutal incursions

Since the beginning of the Israel - Gaza war in October 2023, military incursions by Israeli forces in the West Bank have become more violent and frequent. Medical staff have been repeatedly attacked, harassed and blocked as they attempt to care for the wounded.

Here, Itta describes a 42-hour military attack in May 2024, one of the latest and longest in a pattern of brutal raids.

"This incursion started at 8am, while children were arriving at school and people were on their way to work.

One of the first victims was Dr Jabarin, a surgeon who was shot in the back and killed while walking to work at Khalil Suleiman Hospital. He arrived on a stretcher instead, and his colleagues had to carry the extra burden of his loss throughout the incursion. In total, Israeli forces killed twelve Palestinians during this raid.

Incursions in Jenin are becoming more frequent, and they are highly unpredictable, lasting from hours to days. They are primarily focused on Jenin Camp, which houses over 23,000 Palestinian refugees.

Snipers are deployed around the camp and city. Military forces in large, armoured vehicles block the roads and prevent access to ambulances. It can take hours for people to reach the Khalil Suleiman Hospital, which is normally a two-minute walk from the entrance of Jenin Camp.

As the road to the hospital might be a death trap, many choose to stay at home with injuries and conditions which they would otherwise seek acute medical care for.

We have also equipped stabilisation points, simple rooms with a couple of beds and essential medical supplies, in the camps of Jenin and Tulkarem. But as these stabilisation points have been attacked and vandalised by Israeli forces during their raids, some medical volunteers no longer feel safe working there. Hence, we moved to giving portable medical kits to volunteers.

Additionally, we initiated “stop the bleed” training in the camps, teaching non-medical residents how to care for wounds and apply a tourniquet. During these trainings, we have been asked by housewives, matter-of-factly, whether the bullet needs to be removed before applying pressure, or how long an arm can be held in a tourniquet before you risk amputation.

These questions tell a lot about the alarming reality in Jenin and Tulkarem, where the blockage of access to healthcare has become part of daily life that people are forced to endure.

Constant harassment and destruction

Incursions also bring massive destruction. Houses are bombed or demolished, streets get torn up, water and sanitation systems are ripped apart, and electricity is cut. We have donated two tuk-tuks, the size of small golf carts, repurposed to function as mini ambulances inside Jenin Camp.

These life-saving tuk-tuks run on batteries, therefore volunteers must ration their use as they never know how long a raid might last and when they will be able to charge it again. We cannot add a generator or solar panels to the setup, as this would merely create another target.

Despite constant harassment and fear for their own lives, volunteer paramedics continue to work and tend to the wounded. Mohammed, one of the volunteers in Jenin Camp, told me how he was hit in the wrist by a sniper during the first hour of the latest incursion. He was able to get to the hospital, got patched up, and went right back to work.

Some volunteers have expressed that they feel safer when they don’t wear their paramedic vest. What they are facing is a blatant disregard for the medical mission and human life. We never thought that medical vests were bulletproof, but they should certainly not be targets.  

‘Let the world know what is happening here’

During another recent incursion, in Nur Shams camp in Tulkarem, a Palestinian Red Crescent Society paramedic volunteer trained by MSF was shot in the leg while he was running towards a patient. He was wearing his vest, clearly indicating his medical status. It took more than seven hours before he was allowed to reach the hospital and get the care he needed.

Fortunately, he survived. When we asked him if he has a message to the world, he said that he doesn’t, because no one is listening anyway. Here, people feel that they are not seen, not significant, not worthy of attention, and abandoned by the world.

While the funeral of Dr Jabarin was about to take place, I asked Dr Abu Baker, the director of Khalil Suleiman Hospital, what we as MSF could do to help improve their situation. ‘The most important thing you can do’, he said, ‘is let the world know what is happening here.’"