Hostilities in the Middle East

Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the World Health Organization (WHO), said from Jerusalem that concerning the West Bank, WHO wished to stress that the health crisis was worsening, driven by the intensification of the military presence and operations, rising settler violence, repeated attacks on health care and severe access restrictions that continue to obstruct delivery of vital services. Insecurity and physical barriers affected access to health services.

Of the 559 health facilities assessed by WHO in June, 71 health facilities, including 43 Ministry of Health facilities, faced partial accessibility due to insecurity. Physical barriers at the entrances of some villages and frequent and limited-hour checkpoint operations continued to obstruct access to health care for patients and ambulances.

As of mid-June 2025, WHO had documented 844 attacks on health care in the West Bank since October 2023, resulting in 31 deaths and 168 injuries. The attacks affected 65 health facilities, 24 mobile clinics and 567 ambulances. Sixty-five percent of the attacks occurred in the cities of Tulkarem, Jenin and Nablus. They included 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 militarised searches of ambulances and staff.