Israel Targets Health Workers
Israeli Occupation Forces in the West Bank Obstruct Polio Campaign in Gaza
The polio vaccination campaign in Gaza has moved into its next phase, expanding outreach to northern Gaza. Over 250,000 children have been vaccinated in central and southern regions, with the campaign being carried out through dozens of designated vaccination points and mobile teams.
Despite prior coordination with international organizations, Israeli forces have continued to obstruct vaccination efforts, both directly and indirectly. According to a report by the EuroMed Monitor, United Nations convoys have been stopped and detained by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), with some convoy vehicles reportedly damaged. As the vaccination campaign shifts to northern Gaza, Israel has issued evacuation orders for nearby areas—its first in weeks applying to these locations—further undermining the security situation and complicating outreach efforts.
“The ongoing military attacks indicate that Israel has a clear and deliberate intention to thwart efforts to combat the poliovirus and undermine the vaccination campaign,” EuroMed warned.
Restrictions on humanitarian and medical aid deliveries imposed by the occupation have depleted Gaza’s medical reserves, including essential vaccines and medicines like insulin. With half of all essential medicines unavailable in Gaza, according to UN partners, the situation has reached a critical point.
Newborns and young children are particularly vulnerable, as vaccines for tuberculosis and diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT) are in short supply. Efforts to replenish stocks have been thwarted by Israel’s restrictions on aid missions allowed into Gaza. Between July and August 2023, the number of denied missions nearly doubled, worsening the humanitarian situation on the ground, the UN said.
On 11 September, after difficult negotiations, the World Health Organization (WHO) managed to conduct the largest medical evacuation from Gaza since October 2023. With assistance from health authorities in the United Arab Emirates, the WHO evacuated 97 patients, including those suffering from cancer, cardiovascular diseases, trauma injuries, and liver disease, along with 155 companions.
.@WHO, in collaboration with @mofauae and partners, today evacuated 97 sick and severely injured patients and 155 companions from #Gaza in the largest medical evacuation since October 2023.
Patients were transported via Kerem Shalom to Ramon Airport in Israel for onward travel… pic.twitter.com/GtsNX990g2
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) September 11, 2024
While this evacuation has provided temporary relief for those evacuated, it does little to address the broader healthcare crisis in Gaza. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that no medical solution can succeed while people continue to live under constant threat of bombing and attacks on shelters. “No vaccine nor medicine can help if people are being killed and forced to live in such dire conditions,” Tedros said, reiterating the organization’s urgent call for a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks in the West Bank have also increased barriers to healthcare access. Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) have reported direct assaults on their staff and volunteers. The PRCS has repeatedly called for protection of health workers after several ambulances were targeted while assisting people wounded by Israeli forces.
“Even while wearing my medical uniform, I was hit by munitions from the air and was injured above my eye and got shrapnel wounds,” an MSF volunteer said of his experience.
Similar attacks were reported at the Al-Awda Center in the West Bank, where staff were harmed and used as human shields, and Israeli soldiers used the facility as a sniper station. On Thursday 12 September, Israeli soldiers again infiltrated a health facility in the north of Nablus, dressed as civilian women, arresting two patients in the process, according to Al Jazeera.
As Israeli attacks continue across the occupied territories, healthcare remains on the brink of collapse. Without an immediate and sustained ceasefire, health conditions for Palestinians will deteriorate further.
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