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23 October 2024

Intense bombardments, mass displacements and lack of access in northern Gaza force the postponement of polio vaccination campaign

23 October 2024, Jerusalem/Amman/Geneva- Due to the escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and lack of assured humanitarian pauses across most of northern Gaza, the Polio Technical Committee for Gaza, including the Palestinian Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and partners have...

23 October 2024

Patients transferred, critical supplies denied as high-risk, on WHO-led joint mission in northern Gaza amid intense hostilities

22 October 2024, Gaza, Cairo, Geneva – On 21 October, 14 patients and 10 caregivers were transferred from Kamal Adwan in North Gaza to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City during a high-risk, WHO-led joint mission, amid intense hostilities and access restrictions. Despite an initial agreement, the delivery of critical medical supplies, blood, and fuel—resources essential for keeping Kamal Adwan and...

13 October 2024

Second round of polio vaccination in the Gaza Strip aims to vaccinate over half a million children

11 October 2024 -  The second round of an emergency polio vaccination campaign is scheduled to start on 14 October 2024 in Gaza, to vaccinate an estimated 591 700 children under ten years of age with a second dose of the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) vaccine. This follows a first round, which was successfully implemented from 1-12 September 2024 and...

16 September 2024

Around 560 000 children vaccinated in first round of polio campaign in Gaza

13 September 2024, Jerusalem/Amman/Geneva - Around 560 000 children under ten years old were vaccinated against polio during the first round of an emergency vaccination campaign conducted in three phases from 1-12 September 2024 in the Gaza Strip. The 12-day campaign provided novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to 558 963 children, following meticulous planning and coordination. This involved the...

12 September 2024

WHO analysis highlights vast unmet rehabilitation needs in Gaza

Jerusalem, Cairo, Geneva, 12 September 2024 - At least one quarter or 22 500 of those injured in Gaza by 23 July are estimated to have life-changing injuries that require rehabilitation services now and for years to come, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) analysis of the types of injuries resulting from the ongoing conflict in Gaza: Estimating Trauma Rehabilitation...

06 September 2024

First phase of polio campaign concludes successfully in Gaza

4 September 2024, over 187 000 children under ten years of age were vaccinated with novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) in central Gaza during the first phase of a two-round polio vaccination campaign, conducted between 1–3 September 2024. Vaccination coverage in this phase exceeded the initial estimated target of 157 000 children due to population movement towards central Gaza, and expanded coverage...

27 August 2024

Humanitarian pauses vital for critical polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip

16 August 2024, two rounds of a polio vaccination campaign are expected to be launched at the end of August and September 2024 across the Gaza Strip to prevent the spread of circulating variant type 2 poliovirus (cVDPV2).   WHO and UNICEF request all parties to the conflict to implement humanitarian pauses in the Gaza Strip for seven days to allow for...

31 July 2024

WHO and United Arab Emirates evacuate 85 patients from Gaza

30 July 2024 - Jerusalem, Cairo, Geneva - Today, 85 sick and severely injured patients from Gaza were evacuated to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for specialized care. This extremely complex joint evacuation was supported by the the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the Government of the UAE and other partners. This is the largest medical evacuation...

25 July 2024

Fifteen children from Gaza to receive urgent medical care in Spain

24 July 2024 - Sixteen people from Gaza with complicated medical conditions will arrive in Spain today to receive care there, through an evacuation process involving the World Health Organization (WHO) and multiple partners. Fifteen of them are children, ranging in age from 3 to 17 years old. The mother of one of the children will also be treated in...

25 July 2024

Variant type 2 poliovirus isolated from sewage samples in Gaza

Circulating variant type 2 poliovirus (cVDPV) has been confirmed in the Gaza Strip. Virus was isolated from six environmental (sewage) samples, collected from two different collection sites in two sub-regions within Gaza, collected on 23 June 2024. The variant poliovirus strains detected in six wastewater samples, collected from two environmental surveillance sites in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.  Further genomic...

12 July 2024

Statement by WHO Regional Director Dr Hanan Balkhy on visit to the occupied Palestinian territory

11 July 2024, Cairo, Egypt -- I have just returned from the occupied Palestinian territory, where I visited the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Jenin, and Gaza. The situation in Gaza is concerning on both a human and humanitarian level. I saw firsthand the scale of devastation: lives and homes in ruins, hospitals overwhelmed, and a fully destroyed city. Lack of fuel...

26 June 2024

Jerusalem, 26 June 2024, the European Union and the World Health Organization signed an agreement to strengthen the health financing system and rationalize medical referrals, while protecting the poor and vulnerable patients. The agreement was signed at the Palestinian Prime Minister Office in the presence of the Palestinian Minister of Health Dr Majed Abu Ramadan and Minister of Finance, Mr Omar...

15 June 2024

14 June 2024 - WHO remains concerned about the escalating health crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, where attacks on health infrastructure and increased restrictions on movement are obstructing access to health care.  A spike in violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the war in Gaza started has resulted in the deaths of 521...

21 May 2024

WHO and the Government of Japan sign US$ 10 million agreement to support the health response in Gaza

                            WHO and the Government of Japan have signed a US$10 million agreement to bolster the emergency health response in Gaza amidst the ongoing conflict. The agreement, signed by H.E. Ambassador Nakashima and Dr. Richard Peepepkorn, WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, aims to reach an estimated...

22 April 2024

‘I am terrified of losing my daughter’

‘I am terrified of losing my daughter’ As people of Gaza face catastrophic hunger, WHO, with support from European Union, is ensuring that nutrition stabilization centers are equipped to treat cases of severe acute malnutrition. GAZA, OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, 19 APRIL 2024 -“My daughter is my life; she was like a flower. Now I can see her ribs and her spine....

17 April 2024

France and the UN join hands to strengthen maternal and neonatal health services in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

In the framework of France’s efforts to support the civilian population in Gaza and more particularly women and children, who are the first victims of this conflict. The French Development Agency (AFD) is increasing its support to health services in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank through a project developed jointly by UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA. The project will focus...

17 April 2024

Six months of war leave Al-Shifa hospital in ruins, WHO mission reports

6 April 2024 - A WHO-led multi-agency mission accessed Al-Shifa Hospital in north Gaza on 5 April to conduct a preliminary assessment of the extent of destruction and identify needs to guide future efforts to restore the facility. The highly complex mission was conducted in close partnership with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations...

17 April 2024

Famine in Gaza is imminent, with immediate and long-term health consequences

18 March 2024, The latest analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership released today warns that the situation in Gaza is catastrophic, with northern Gaza facing imminent famine and the rest of the Strip at risk as well.  "The IPC announcement reflects the dire situation that the people of Gaza are facing," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "Before this...

21 February 2024

WHO and Dubai’s International Humanitarian City to send life-saving health supplies to Gaza Strip

21 February, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Amid a worsening health emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) logistics hub in Dubai, in partnership with Dubai’s International Humanitarian City, will be delivering critical health supplies worth over US$ 1.7 million to the Gaza Strip. In total, 80 metric tonnes of life-saving medicines, including insulin, are being delivered through a temporary air bridge between...

20 February 2024

Statement: WHO transfer critical patients out of Nasser Medical Complex, fears for safety of remaining patients

WHO led two life-saving missions to transfer 32 critical patients, including two children, from Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza on 18 and 19 February, amid ongoing hostilities and access restrictions. The high-risk missions were conducted in close partnership with the Palestine Red Crescent society (PRCS) and the United Nations OCHA occupied Palestinian territory. The team also provided limited supplies of...

20 February 2024

Children’s lives threatened by rising malnutrition in the Gaza Strip

The situation is especially serious in the north, where 1 in 6 children under the age of 2 is acutely malnourished 19 February 2024, A steep rise in malnutrition among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Gaza strip poses grave threats to their health, according to a comprehensive new analysis released by the Global Nutrition Cluster. As the ongoing conflict...

20 February 2024

WHO transfers critical patients out of Nasser Medical Complex, fears for safety of remaining patients

20 February 2024 – WHO led two life-saving missions to transfer 32 critical patients, including two children, from Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza on 18 and 19 February, amid ongoing hostilities and access restrictions. The high-risk missions were conducted in close partnership with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian...

07 February 2024

WHO, KSrelief sign new agreement to support over one million people in Gaza

6 February 2024, Cairo, Egypt – A US$ 10 million agreement signed today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) will provide more than one million people in Gaza with access to emergency life-saving health services. “The collaboration between WHO and KSrelief signifies a strategic, coordinated response to addressing urgent health needs...

29 January 2024

New mass displacement of Palestinians fleeing fighting, health facilities crammed with people seeking refuge, food. Photo credit: WHO  27 December 2023 – Gaza: World Health Organization teams have undertaken high-risk missions to deliver supplies, wi

Cairo, Geneva, Jerusalem, 23 January 2024 – WHO and partners completed another high-risk mission on Monday to resupply fuel to the Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people remain cut off from aid. Across the Gaza Strip, the few remaining hospitals find themselves in ever more dire circumstances, with hostilities often preventing access for patients and...

29 January 2024

WHO teams deliver supplies to hospitals in Northern and Southern Gaza

27 December 2023 – Gaza: World Health Organization teams have undertaken high-risk missions to deliver supplies, with partners, to hospitals in Northern and Southern Gaza witnessing intense hostilities in their vicinity, high patient loads and overcrowding caused by people displaced by the conflict seeking refuge. “Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the...

29 January 2024

Lethal combination of hunger and disease to lead to more deaths in Gaza

21 December 2023  – Hunger is ravaging Gaza, and this is expected to increase illness across the Strip, most acutely among children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and older people. In new estimates released today, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) global partnership, which includes WHO, said Gaza is facing “catastrophic levels of food insecurity,” with the risk of famine “increasing each...

29 January 2024

WHO delivers health supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital, appeals for continued access to address urgent needs in north Gaza

17 December 2023 — WHO staff participated in a joint UN mission to Al-Shifa Hospital in north Gaza on 16 December to deliver health supplies and assess the situation in the facility. Partners on today’s mission included OCHA, UNDSS, and UNMAS. The team delivered medicines and surgical supplies, orthopedic surgery equipment, and anesthesia materials and drugs to the hospital. Al-Shifa Hospital,...

12 December 2023

4 December 2023, Cairo/Geneva – Once again, nowhere is safe in Gaza. WHO is gravely concerned about the resumption of hostilities, including heavy bombardment in Gaza, and reiterates its appeal to Israel to take every possible measure to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as per the laws of war. We have seen what happened in northern Gaza. This cannot...

12 December 2023

WHO calls for protection of humanitarian space in Gaza following serious incidents in high-risk mission to transfer patients, deliver health supplies

12 December 2023 – Cairo, Geneva, Jerusalem, WHO reiterates its call for the protection of health care and humanitarian assistance in Gaza, following military checkpoint delays and detention of health partners during a mission to transfer critically-ill patients and deliver supplies to a hospital in northern Gaza. During the mission, a patient reportedly died.  On 9 December 2023, a WHO team,...

28 November 2023

Joint UN mission transfers critical patients from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, under intense fighting

24 November 2023, Geneva/Cairo - On 22 November, in cooperation with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, WHO participated in another joint-UN mission to transfer 151 patients, relatives and health workers accompanying them from Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza. The mission was undertaken following specific requests from health authorities and hospital officials in Gaza. This was the third mission to Al-Shifa carried...

28 November 2023

WHO and King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) sign a Letter of Intent to scale up health response assistance in Gaza Strip

23 November 2023, Cairo, Egypt – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) today signed a letter of intent to solidify their commitment to collaborative humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip. The letter of intent, for US$ 10 million, was signed by Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and...

27 November 2023

1- Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) 2- Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP)

21 November 2023

WHO staff member killed in Gaza

Cairo/Geneva/Jerusalem, 21 November 2023 – With heavy hearts, WHO announces the death of one of our staff in Gaza, in the occupied Palestinian territory. Dima Abdullatif Mohammed Alhaj, 29 years old, had been with WHO since December 2019. She worked as a patient administrator at the Limb Reconstruction Centre, a critical part of the WHO Trauma and Emergency Team.   Dima died today...

21 November 2023

WHO appalled by latest attack on Indonesian Hospital in Gaza

20 November 2023 — WHO is appalled by the attack today on the Indonesian Hospital in North Gaza, which reportedly resulted in the killing of at least 12 persons including patients and their companions residing at the hospital. According to reports, tens of people were also injured in the attack, including some with critical and life-threatening injuries. Health workers and...

19 November 2023

WHO-led joint UN and Red Crescent mission evacuates 31 infants from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

These premature and low birthweight babies had earlier been moved from the neonatal unit in Al-Shifa to a safer area in the hospital, due to lack of electricity to run their life support, and security risks in the hospital. Yesterday and last night, two babies died before the evacuation could take place. (Note, there were 33 babies under care yesterday,...

19 November 2023

WHO leads very high-risk joint humanitarian mission to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

18 November 2023 - Earlier today, a joint UN humanitarian assessment team, led by WHO accessed Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza to assess the situation on the ground and conduct a rapid situational analysis, assess medical priorities, and establish logistics options for further missions. The team included public health experts, logistics officers, and security staff from OCHA, UNDSS, UNMAS/UNOPS, UNRWA...

14 November 2023

UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO Regional Directors call for immediate action to halt attacks on health care in Gaza

Statement by Ms. Laila Baker, UNFPA Arab States Regional Director; Ms. Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa; Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean 12 November 2023, Cairo/Amman — The regional directors of UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO call for urgent international action to end the ongoing attacks on hospitals in Gaza. We are...

14 November 2023

WHO loses communication with contacts in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza amid reports of attacks

Many of the wounded have been cared for in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza since early October 2023. Photo from 15 October 2023. Credit: WHO 12 November 2023 — WHO has lost communication with its contacts in Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. As horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks continue to emerge, we assume our contacts joined tens of thousands...

14 November 2023

Children with cancer evacuated from Gaza for treatment to Egypt and Jordan

WHO, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and key countries coordinate vital humanitarian action amidst ongoing conflict 10 November 2023, Some 12 children with cancer or other blood disorders have been evacuated, with their companions, from the Gaza Strip in the occupied Palestinian territory to Egypt and Jordan so they may continue their treatment safely. Additional children are expected to be evacuated for...

14 November 2023

Risk of disease spread soars in Gaza as health facilities, water and sanitation systems disrupted

8 November 2023 – As deaths and injuries in Gaza continue to rise due to intensified hostilities, intense overcrowding and disrupted health, water, and sanitation systems pose an added danger: the rapid spread of infectious diseases. Some worrying trends are already emerging.  Lack of fuel has led to the shutting down of desalination plants, significantly increasing the risk of bacterial infections...

14 November 2023

Attacks on health care in Gaza Strip unacceptable, says WHO

4 November 2023 — WHO condemns the attacks on 3 November near Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Quds Hospital, and the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City and North Gaza governorates. According to reports, at Al-Shifa Hospital, ambulances were evacuating critically injured and sick patients to hospitals in the south of the Gaza Strip when there was an attack at the entrance of the hospital....

01 November 2023

WHO welcomes decision by Egypt to receive patients from Gaza Strip

WHO has been working to support the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population in planning and establishing a comprehensive triage, stabilization, and medical evacuation system, by providing ongoing training for health care staff. WHO is also working with the Egyptian Red Crescent Society to ensure that psychological trauma support services are available to patients. Our experts have visited Al-Arish, visited medical...

25 October 2023

As Gaza’s health system disintegrates, WHO calls for safe passage of fuel, supplies for health facilities

24 October 2023 – WHO remains unable to distribute fuel and essential, life-saving health supplies to major hospitals in northern Gaza due to lack of security guarantees. WHO calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire so health supplies and fuel can be delivered safely throughout the Gaza Strip. Some of the facilities waiting for WHO supplies and fuel in northern Gaza include Al-Shifa...

21 October 2023

WHO health supplies move towards Gaza

21 October 2023, Cairo - The supplies include trauma medicines and supplies for 1200 people and portable trauma bags for on-the-spot stabilization of up to 235 injured people. They also include chronic diseases medicines and treatments for 1500 people and basic essential medicines and health supplies for 300,000 people for three months. WHO is working with the Egyptian and Palestine...

18 October 2023

WHO statement on attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza

rea WHO statement on attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital and reported large-scale casualties WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip. The hospital was operational, with patients, health and care givers, and internally displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries. The hospital was one of 20 in the...

14 October 2023

Evacuation orders by Israel to hospitals in northern Gaza are a death sentence for the sick and injured

Photo credit: Ministry of Health, Occupied Palestinian territory 14 October 2023 – As the United Nation’s agency responsible for public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) strongly condemns Israel's repeated orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating more than 2000 inpatients in northern Gaza. The forced evacuation of patients and health workers will further worsen the current humanitarian and public health...

14 October 2023

Lifesaving WHO health supplies land in Egypt for people-in-need in Gaza

14 October 2023, Cairo, Egypt – A plane carrying 78 cubic metres of health supplies from WHO’s logistics hub in Dubai has landed in Al-Arish airport in Egypt. The supplies will be delivered to Gaza to meet critical health needs as soon as humanitarian access through the Rafah crossing is established. Every hour these supplies remain on the Egyptian side of the...

14 October 2023

WHO pleads for immediate reversal of Gaza evacuation order to protect health and reduce suffering

13 October 2023, WHO joins the wider United Nations in appealing to Israel to immediately rescind orders for the evacuation of over 1 million people living north of Wadi Gaza. A mass evacuation would be disastrous—for patients, health workers and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement. With ongoing airstrikes and closed borders, civilians have no safe place...

12 October 2023

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip at a breaking point, warns WHO

Jerusalem, 12 October 2023 - WHO warns that the health system in the Gaza Strip is at a breaking point. Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade. Hospitals have only a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves and rely...

27 September 2023

Ahmad’s testimony: PRCS paramedics detained and searched in Tulkarem

32-year-old Ahmad from the town of Tulkarem in the West Bank has been a volunteer paramedic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) for ten years. In the early hours of Tuesday, 5 September, Ahmad travelled with other paramedics to Nur Shams refugee camp, southeast of Tulkarem, to respond to emergency medical needs of the residents during an Israeli incursion. Three...

28 August 2023

WHO and KOICA sign US$ 6 million cooperation agreement to strengthen mental health and psychosocial services in Palestine

Ramallah, West Bank, 28 August 2023 - Mr. Minjong Kim, the Country Director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Palestine, and Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), signed a US$ 6 million cooperation agreement to strengthen the quality and accessibility of mental and psychological health services for Palestinians...

23 August 2023

Attacks on health care during the military incursion of Jenin refugee camp

Sabrin is 32 years old and a paramedic from Silat al-Harithiya village, near Jenin in the West Bank. She has worked with the Palestine Red Crescent Society for the past five years. On Monday 3rd July, Sabrin woke up to news of the military operation on Jenin refugee camp. She tried to reach the PRCS ambulance centre in Jenin for duty...

14 August 2023

WHO delivers training to improve intrapartum care in the occupied Palestinian territory

14 August 2023 – WHO organized a 3-day training workshop for health workers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to improve their capacity in providing high-quality, evidence-based intrapartum care.  The training was attended by 24 obstetricians and midwives in the West Bank and 35 in the Gaza Strip, respectively. The training was based on new and existing WHO recommendations that emphasize the...

11 July 2023

Palestine Social Medicine Course Launched

11 July 2023 - The Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) at Birzeit University, the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights, and the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territory have launched the Palestine Social Medicine course. This intensive course is part of the activities of the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights, a...

03 July 2023

Strengthening protection of health care in the occupied Palestinian territory

23 June 2023 – WHO conducted two workshops in Ramallah, West Bank, and Gaza City on strengthening protection of health care against attacks and barriers to access in the context of occupation. WHO has documented increased attacks on health care in the West Bank, with the surge in incursions and violence in 2023. From January to the end of May 2023,...

06 June 2023

WHO event in Gaza to mobilize action on barriers to the Right to Health in the occupied Palestinian territory

6 June 2023, WHO held an event in Gaza to engage partners on mobilizing action to address the key findings and recommendations of two reports on the Right to Health: Barriers to Health Access and Attacks on Health Care 2019 to 2021 and Palestinian Voices 2022 to 2023. Opening remarks were delivered by Dr Yousef Abu Rish, Deputy Minister of Health,...

30 May 2023

Palestinian Voices 2022 - 2023

Gaza Health Access West Bank Health Access Health Attacks Gaza Health Access Throughout the year, WHO continued to document the impact of barriers to health access on the Palestinian people in Gaza. Below are three of the cases documented from 2022 to 2023: Khalid He is a patient and has the same right as any person who wants to get treatment. Riham, wife of Khalid »...

29 May 2023

WHO trains paramedics from the West Bank and East Jerusalem in basic pre-hospital trauma care

WHO trained 25 Palestine Medical Relief Society paramedics from the West Bank and East Jerusalem in pre-hospital trauma care during a four-day workshop, which aimed to refresh their skills and teach new techniques for stabilizing patients in emergencies and mass-casualty incidents. Participants The course delivered during the training has been developed by WHO's Emergency Operations Unit and piloted for the first...

19 May 2023

Dr Shadi “I call on international organizations to give us protection. Doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and ambulances. We live under occupation, and we are exposed to the violence of occupation every day.”

17 August 2023 – On 26 February, Israeli settlers raided Huwara village near Nablus, in the north of the West Bank. Shadi, a doctor working in emergency medicine at Huwara Emergency Medical Centre, spoke about his experience on that day. “Our team from Huwara Emergency Medical Centre was prevented from accessing. I wasn’t on duty when it all happened. I was at home,...

19 May 2023

Abed “When they started shooting towards me, I felt helpless. I had the capacity to help – at least to stop his bleeding until we got him to hospital. I knew there were other injuries as well, but I couldn’t reach them…”

Abed, a 28-year-old paramedic officer working with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, (PMRS) woke at around 5am on 3 January 2023 to the sound of Israeli forces raiding Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem. “I heard loud voices near my house. I got dressed and put on my paramedic gear. As I tried to leave my house, heavy shooting toward me started....

19 May 2023

Hamzeh “Around five metres before reaching the guy, I was shot in the right side of my upper body. I went back around two meters and fell to the ground. I told the other paramedics that I had been shot

 27-year-old Hamzeh Abu Hajar is a volunteer paramedic with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS). In 2022, with increasing escalations across the West Bank, Hamzeh began volunteering as a PMRS first responder. “Every time the Israeli forces would raid Nablus Old City, I would join the field team. PMRS cars would drive us to different locations where people were injured and needed...

19 May 2023

Ali “When I responded that I wanted to see what he was doing, the soldier got out of the vehicle and started pushing me and kicking me, hitting me with the back of his gun and causing me to fall to the ground.”  Ali (pseudonym)

On 2 October 2022, a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance crew travelled to Beit Furik near Nablus, to provide first aid to persons injured during demonstrations against settlement expansion and incursions in the village, which is in the north of the West Bank. Ali was driving the ambulance, while his colleague Omar1 sat beside him. They crossed the checkpoint leading to Beit...

19 May 2023

Muhannad  “For two days I couldn’t reach work. I would leave my house on foot wearing my paramedic uniform and go to the checkpoint, but the soldiers wouldn’t let me pass.”  Muhannad

From 8 to 11 October, Israel enforced a near-complete closure of Shu’fat refugee camp and adjacent areas of Anata. The area, home to refugees and non-refugees in east Jerusalem, is surrounded by Israel’s separation barrier, which takes the form of an 8- to 9-metre-high concrete wall enclosing the camp. In addition to the existing checkpoint west of the camp, Israeli...

19 May 2023

Moaayd “These communities face a lot of violations… We should be providing health services at least three times a week, but we cover communities in three districts of the Jordan Valley and there is only so much we can do.”  Moaayd

Moaayd is the driver of a mobile clinic for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) operating in the Jordan Valley of the West Bank. He has been part of the team for 10 years, working with communities in remote areas that depend on mobile clinics for access to primary health care. The communities face obstacles to planning and development, demolition orders that...

19 May 2023

Musaab “This is so inhumane. How can this happen in any place in the world? Why are they blocking me from accompanying my son? I just want to hold his hand when he goes for surgery.”  Musaab’s father

Musaab, 21 years old, was in the third year of his university studies in Nablus, in the north of the West Bank. In the summer of 2022, he was diagnosed with a cancer called a synovial sarcoma in his left ankle. To confirm the diagnosis and to guide the best approach to his treatment, Musaab was referred to Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem for bone biopsy in June 2022, for an...

19 May 2023

Fatma “When I lost my daughter, I felt that there is no life anymore. I am sure my daughter is not the only one killed by this blockade... Why should my little girl have been denied medical treatment?”  Fatma’s father

Fatma was a 19-month-old girl from Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. She died on 25 March 2022 after she was delayed access to lifesaving cardiac surgery for nearly three months. Fatma was born with a congenital heart condition known as an atrial septal defect. She needed curative surgery at Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem and was required by Israel...

19 May 2023

Amal “I don’t know why I am prevented. I have been waiting so long! I need to have this test so the doctor can make a clear diagnosis and give me proper treatment. I suffer and worry every day.”

Amal, 38 years old from Gaza city, was found to have a brain aneurysm (a potentially life-threatening ballooning of a blood vessel) in March 2022. On 5 June 2022, Amal was referred to An-Najah University Hospital in Nablus, in the West Bank, for brain catheterization and scan (angiography), a procedure not available in the Gaza Strip. She made one permit application for an appointment on 16...

19 May 2023

Khalid “He is a patient and has the same right as any person who wants to get treatment.”Khaled  Riham, wife of Khalid

Khalid, 36 years old from Gaza city, has end stage kidney failure. For 16 years, he has been dependent on weekly haemodialysis (a procedure to remove waste and water from the blood, to perform the function of healthy kidneys). In late 2022, Khalid required referral out of Gaza for vascular surgery so that he would be able to keep having lifesaving...

09 May 2023

WHO reports underline barriers to the Right to Health in the occupied Palestinian territory

                                        9 May 2023 - Palestinians continue to encounter major obstacles to realizing the right to health. Today, WHO launches two reports, Right to Health 2019 to 2021 and Palestinian Voices 2022 to 2023. The reports outline how fragmentation of the Palestinian people,...

08 May 2023

Palestinian Voices 2022 - 2023

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05 April 2023

WHO delivers $1.5M of medicines and supplies to Al-Makassed Hospital through UAE Aid support

                                  31 March 2023 – WHO has delivered a $1.5M shipment of critical medicines and medical supplies to Al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem through the generous support of UAE Aid. The shipment will help in plugging critical gaps in need to support the continuity of lifesaving...

27 March 2023

Increasing attacks on health care & health worker testimony

In February 2023, there was a significant increase in attacks on health care in the West Bank. Health attacks occurred in the context of major incursions by Israeli forces into Palestinian towns and refugee camps and a rise in violence carried out by Israeli settler groups. WHO verified 47 health attacks in the first two months of 2023, which included:  •...

23 February 2023

Hamzeh, a paramedic, severely injured in a health attack in Nablus

27-year-old Hamzeh Abu Hajar is a volunteer paramedic with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS). Hamzeh first joined PMRS in 2019, participating in courses on first aid and community engagement at their youth centre. In March 2020, after the first cases of COVID-19 were identified in the occupied Palestinian territory, he signed up to join their field teams providing community support and...

16 February 2023

West Bank Access 2022

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08 February 2023

WHO receives trauma and emergency surgical kits to boost medical stocks

8 February 2022 – WHO has received 7 pallets of different modules of lifesaving trauma and emergency surgical kits through the support of the Government of the Russian Federation.  The kits are enough to cover the health needs of up to 250 severely injured patients and 1000 moderate to lightly injured patients.   The kits will boost WHO’s stock of emergency supplies and be deployed,...

01 February 2023

Health attacks oPt 2022

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01 February 2023

PRCS driver testimony of an attack in Beit Furik, Nablus: On 2 October 2022, a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance crew travelled to Beit Furik near Nablus, to provide first aid to persons injured during demonstrations against settlement expansion and incursions in the village, when the team was attacked. Read more

01 February 2023

St Joseph Hospital in East Jerusalem attacked

June 2022 In May, Israeli forces attacked St Joseph Hospital in East Jerusalem during the funeral of renowned Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The pallbearers were beaten, with police firing tear gas grenades, sound bombs and rubber bullets in the grounds of the hospital. Armed police entered the hospital building causing intimidation of patients and staff. The hospital recorded 13...

16 January 2023

Gaza Health Access 2022

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16 January 2023

Saleem, a 16-year-old child with leukaemia, dies after barriers to hospital admission

Saleem An-Nawati was 16 years old from Gaza and had acute leukaemia diagnosed in late 2021. He was initially referred for an appointment at An-Najah University Hospital in Nablus in the West Bank on 28 November 2021, but he received no definitive response to his permit application in time for his appointment. Saleem was delayed a permit to reach treatment...

13 January 2023

Scaling-up Mental Health Services in Palestine

Nurse Ibrahim checks on a patient in the ICU, European Gaza Hospital “Seeing someone so young attempt to take their own life is heart-breaking. Though we work in a tough environment, witnessing such suffering never gets easy. Sadly, this is not our first such case,” says Ibrahim, ICU Nurse at the European Gaza Hospital.     Over the last few days, he’s built a...

11 January 2023

21-year-old Musaab repeatedly denied access to cancer care

Musaab is 21 years old and in his third year of study at university in Nablus, in the north of the West Bank. In the summer of 2022, Musaab was diagnosed with a cancer called a synovial sarcoma in his left ankle. To confirm his diagnosis and to guide the best approach to his treatment, he was referred to Makassed Hospital...

10 January 2023

Making health care services faster and easier for patients

10 January 2023 – Khetam, a mother of 2, has only brought one of her daughters to the primary health centre, though both are sick and in need of medical attention.  Her younger daughter has a very high fever and weakness. Khetam has had to prioritize her treatment today.  “If I brought my other daughter too, we would have had to spend more...

13 November 2022

Dr Naseem’s experience of the August escalation

13 November 2022 – Dr Naseem reached home after a long shift at the hospital, ready to rest and recharge. He had been looking forward to spending time with his children but found it hard to shake off his worries and disengage his mind. The air felt heavy. The news about growing tensions in Gaza Strip seemed impossible to escape. WhatsApp...

08 November 2022

Emergency operation centre inaugurated in Gaza

Gaza, 8 November 2022 – Gaza’s first emergency operation centre (EOC), established by WHO under the leadership of the Gaza Ministry of Health, was inaugurated today. The inauguration was attended by Dr Yousef Abu-Al Rish, Gaza’s Deputy Minister of Health and Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, along with health experts from Gaza. The EOC will provide...

02 November 2022

Essential medical supplies delivered to Gaza Strip through WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies

2 November 2022 – In Gaza Strip, swift and timely funding from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies is helping WHO close critical gaps in needs and enhance emergency response by building up on previous efforts to bolster preparedness. Recently, 2 sizable shipments of medicines and medical supplies were provided to the Ministry of Health to replenish the near-zero stocks of...

21 October 2022

WHO, with the Palestinian Ministry of Health and partners, conducts workshop on barriers to accessing noncommunicable disease services in the occupied Palestinian territory

Jerusalem, 21 October 2022 - WHO in the occupied Palestinian territory, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, conducted two workshops on 11 and 19 October on findings of an assessment of barriers to accessing noncommunicable disease (NCD) services during the COVID-19 pandemic, focused on the specific impact on rural and semi-rural communities in Area C of the West Bank and the...

17 October 2022

United Arab Emirates and WHO sign US$ 25 million cooperation agreement for Al Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem

Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, the country signed a US$ 25 million cooperation agreement in support of Al Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem. This came as part of the United Arab Emirates’ efforts to support the medical and health care sectors in the occupied Palestinian teritory in...

04 October 2022

Amal, 38, misses two appointments in three months for brain catheterization and scan

Amal, a 38-year-old woman from Gaza, was found to have a brain aneurysm (the potentially life-threatening ballooning of a blood vessel) in March 2022. On 5 June 2022, Amal was referred to An-Najah University Hospital in Nablus, in the West Bank, for brain catheterization and scan (angiography), a procedure not available in the Gaza Strip. She made one permit application for...

26 September 2022

Ahmad’s journey to health

26 September 2022 – It is playtime for Ahmad and his grandson as they enjoy playing football at a pitch in the Gaza Strip. They come here regularly for football and exercise. But just a few years ago, Ahmad’s life looked very different. Hospital visits instead of football with his grandson occupied most of his time. In September 2019, Ahmad slipped on...

07 September 2022

Keeping hope alive

7 September 2022 - Aseel stands at the door with a warm and reassuring smile as patients nervously enter her office. “Anyone who’s coming to see me is not in a happy place. It’s my job to find out what is distressing them and provide support in overcoming any mental health challenges they might be facing because of their situation or...

23 August 2022

WHO supports Gaza’s public hospitals to better respond to the recent escalation of hostilities

23 August 2022 – The World Health Organization (WHO)’s long-term support for increased preparedness and response capacity in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the Gaza Strip, proved vital during the escalation of violence from 5to 7August 2022. This ongoing work has enabled hospitals to activate mass casualty management plans, prepositioned supplies to be mobilized, and urgent provisions to be delivered to hospitals,...

23 August 2022

Ahmed, a patient with cancer, delayed critical follow up for four months

Ahmed is 39 years old and from the Gaza Strip. He was diagnosed with cancer in his right parotid gland in 2013, receiving surgery and treatment in Egypt. In 2016, doctors found a recurrence of his cancer and he had further surgery in 2017 at Assuta Hospital in Tel Aviv. There, Ahmed received medicines, radiotherapy and chemotherapy to increase the...

23 August 2022

First Health Cluster exhibition held in Gaza Strip and Ramallah

Ramallah, 18 August 2022 – The first-ever Health Cluster exhibition “Collective Action for Better Health” was held in Gaza Strip and Ramallah on 15 and 18 August, respectively. The exhibition was organized by the occupied Palestine territory (oPt) Health Cluster, under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and WHO. Around 35 partners in the Gaza Strip and 30 in Ramallah...

03 August 2022

Health Workers’ Training Begins on the National Guideline on Infection Prevention and Control

July 2022, Gaza - Recently, the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territory (WHO oPt) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) commenced a series of trainings in Gaza on the National Guideline on Infection Prevention and Control. The trainings are part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the health system and improve health workers’ capacity. Effective implementation of the Guideline at...

19 July 2022

5-year-old Ahlam still awaiting critical operation after she was twice prevented access

May 2022 - Ahlam is a 5-year-old girl born in Beit-Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip. Since she was six months old, Ahlam’s family noticed she was not as responsive as other children her age and suspected that a problem with her hearing. They took her to two charitable organizations in the Gaza Strip, Atfaluna and Hamad Hospital in...

05 July 2022

15 YEARS OF BLOCKADE AND HEALTH IN GAZA

Click here to download Link to the Factsheet 

28 June 2022

Seven people you meet during a polio campaign

28 June 2022 - Between Saturday 18 June and Wednesday 23 June, health workers across Bethlehem and Jerusalem governorates, supported by WHO, UNICEF and UNRWA, gave an extra dose of polio protection to children under five during round two of the polio vaccination campaign. Palestine has been polio-free for more than 25 years, but the regional risk of poliovirus is increasing....

17 June 2022

Palestinian Ministry of Health launches round two of polio vaccination campaign in Bethlehem and Jerusalem

16 June 2022,Ramallah - On Saturday 18 June, the Palestinian Ministry of Health will launch round two of a polio vaccination campaign targeting all children under age five in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. This is a supplementary immunization campaign designed to give children under age five an extra dose of protection from poliovirus, on top of their regularly scheduled vaccinations. Vaccination, using bivalent...

14 June 2022

Communities in the Jordan Valley depend on precarious mobile clinic access

1 / 5 Moaayd is the driver of a mobile clinic for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), working with communities in the Jordan Valley, in the West Bank. He has been part of the clinic team for ten years. 2 / 5 “We should be providing health services at least three times a week, but we cover communities in three districts of...

24 May 2022

WHO and The Big Heart Foundation Strengthen the Integration of Gender-based Violence Response into Primary Health Care across oPt

Ongoing conflict across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) continues to take a heavy toll on the mental and psychosocial health and well-being of a large majority of the population, making it one of the most significant public health challenges. COVID-19 has further exacerbated the situation and contributed to an increase in the incidence of gender-based violence (GBV), which has enhanced the vulnerability of women and...

24 May 2022

Occupied Palestinian territory completes round 1 of health-facility based polio campaign

24 May 2022 – Over 16-19 May, parents in the governorates of Bethlehem and Jerusalem were urged to take their children under 5 to health facilities for a supplementary dose of bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) with the aim of boosting their immunity against poliovirus in the face increased regional risk.  Unlike most polio campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the mechanism...

19 May 2022

Gaza child dies following repeated permit delays by Israel

Fatma Al-Masri was a 19-month-old girl from Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. She died on 25 March 2022 after she was delayed access to lifesaving cardiac surgery for nearly three months. Fatma was born with a congenital heart condition known as an atrial septal defect. She needed curative surgery at Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem and was required by...

16 May 2022

EIB and WHO partner to strengthen primary healthcare and oncology services in Palestine as part of a global joint initiative

16 May 2022 - On Sunday, European Investment Bank (EIB) President Hoyer attended the opening ceremony of the new EIB Representation for the West Bank and Gaza. During the event, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory Dr. Richard Peeperkorn and EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti confirmed the successful ongoing implementation of the first two technical assistance assignments...

13 May 2022

Palestinian Ministry of Health launches polio vaccination campaign to boost immunity in Bethlehem and Jerusalem

13 May 2022 – Ramallah - On Monday 16 May, the Palestinian Ministry of Health will launch round one of a polio vaccination campaign targeting all children under age five in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The vaccination campaign is scheduled to run over three days: Monday 16 May through Wednesday 18 May 2022. Vaccination, using bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV), is free...

07 April 2022

World Health Day 2022 – Strengthening Health Systems and Empowering Communities

7 April 2022, Ramallah - On this World Health Day, we call for a world that supports the health of humans and the environment alike. It is impossible to have a healthy society in a polluted environment, or to have a clean environment in an unhealthy society. Protection of the environment is critical to the realization of Health For All. Determinants of...

15 February 2022

Zaina, 10, unable to access cancer treatment since February

15 February 2022 - Zaina is a 10-year-old girl from the Gaza Strip, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in June 2020. After her initial diagnosis, Zaina received chemotherapy at Rantisi Hospital in the Gaza Strip. It was a difficult time for Zaina and her family. “Zaina suffered with pain and with side effects from the chemotherapy,” her father commented. “When she...

02 February 2022

WHO hands over refrigerated vehicles to strengthen vaccine cold chain

East Jerusalem, 1 February 2022 - WHO in oPt handed over two refrigerated vehicles worth US$ 93 000 to the Palestinian Ministry of Health as part of its ongoing support to the health system and the national response to COVID-19.  The vehicles, funded by the Federal Republic of Germany, will bolster efforts to strengthen the vaccine cold chain to ensure that...

30 December 2021

Palestine receives its largest COVAX shipment, funded by the Governments of Germany and Italy

30 December 2021 – Last night, Palestine received its largest COVAX shipment to date, containing more than 453 600doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, funded by the Governments of Germany and Italy. The vaccine doses were transferred to the Ministry of Health’s vaccine storage facilities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Further consignments of COVAX vaccine doses are planned for Palestine to...

23 December 2021

World Health Organization launches a series of Mass Casualty Management (MCM) Training targeting main public hospitals in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

23 December 2021 - With generous support from the oPt Humanitarian Fund, the European Union Humanitarian Aid and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) completed the first of a series of Mass Casualty Management training for Shifa hospital’s emergency department in Gaza. It is the first of its kind in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The...

20 December 2021

World Health Organization and the Korea International Cooperation Agency sign off on establishing two Public Rehabilitation Outpatient Centres and Capacity building

Ramallah – West Bank, 09 December 2021 - Dr. Youseung Shin, the country Director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Palestine, and Dr. Richard Peeperkorn Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) signed off today on an agreement to establish two new Public Rehabilitation Outpatient Centers in Ramallah and Qabatiya in the...

20 December 2021

Reduce avoidable morbidity and mortality in oPT by strengthening the Palestinian emergency health care system

East Jerusalem, 15 December 2021 - Consul General of Italy in Jerusalem H.E. Mr. Giuseppe Fedele, Mr. Guglielmo Giordano Head of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and Dr. Richard Peeperkorn Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) signed today an agreement to launch the health project: Reduce avoidable morbidity and mortality in...

22 November 2021

Maisa, 37, denied access to treatment for lung cancer

22 November 2021 – Maisa is 37 years old and from Deir Al Balah refugee camp in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2021. Since July, Maisa applied 3 times for a permit to reach An-Najah Hospital in the West Bank, to receive cancer treatments that are not available in the Gaza Strip....

14 November 2021

14 November 2021 - The decision on 7 November of the Military Commander in the West Bank to declare by Military Orders the six Palestinian NGOs as unauthorized in the West Bank deepens the concern of the UN Agencies and the Association International Development Agencies (AIDA), working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The decision is a further erosion of...

17 October 2021

“I’m a photographer, so my work depends on my sight.”

Tamer is a 39-year-old photojournalist from Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, working for the Associated Press (AP). His sight has been deteriorating since he was diagnosed with a congenital eye condition in 2017. Tamer has required extensive treatments and investigations, not all available in the Gaza Strip. Before May this year, Tamer had received permits from Israel to reach...

09 July 2021

My three-year-old son, Ameer, had cancer in his eyes. Now he needs treatment.

9 July 2021 - Three-year-old Ameer is a refugee living in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. In August 2019, he was diagnosed with a cancer in his right eye called a retinoblastoma. He had surgery outside the Gaza Strip at the time to remove the cancer, and received an ocular prosthesis – a custom-made ball that...

02 June 2021

Staggering health needs emerge in the occupied Palestinian territory in the wake of recent escalations

Cairo, 1 June 2021 – As the ceasefire in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) holds, WHO is scaling up its response to provide health aid for almost 200 000 people in need. WHO has so far provided essential medicines to support trauma care and ambulance services for more than 2000 injured beneficiaries in the Gaza Strip, and 10 triage and...

19 May 2021

About our reports: These flash updates will report on the latest impact on health and people’s lives as a result of the escalations of violence across oPt, both from the continuing aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip and settler-related unrest in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. Escalation flash updates: WHO oPT Flash Update Issue 3, May 20, 2021 WHO oPT Flash Update Issue...

03 May 2021

Zubaidat: Maintaining primary care provision during COVID-19

5 May 0201 - 33-year-old Amani is a mother of three and nurse who works with a mobile clinic team of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). She has been working with the team for the past four years, providing primary care services to underserved and remote Palestinian communities in Area C, which comprises approximately 60% of the West Bank...

30 April 2021

Primary care provision at Humsa following mass demolitions

30 April 2021 - Humsa is a collection of Bedouin communities comprising around 175 people, in the north Jordan Valley in the West Bank. Two major incidents of demolitions by Israeli forces at Humsa Al Bqai’a occurred in February 2021, where 60 people including 35 children were left displaced and at risk of forcible transfer. The community was provided tents, kitchen...

29 April 2021

Jana and palliative care in the Gaza Strip

29 April 2021 - Jana is 4 years old from Jabalia, in the north of Gaza City. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and underwent surgery to have a tumour in her bladder removed in January 2019. WHO first met Jana in January 2020, when she had been unable for several months to obtain  Israeli-issued permit to access radiotherapy treatment...

03 March 2021

“I will continue to be an advocate for a better health for all Palestinians’’ reflected Dr Rockenschaub at a farewell event before his departure

3 March 2021 - "Dr Rockenschaub and the WHO organization and what they represent were not only our partners, but they worked together with high professionalism. His support and efforts to Palestine’s performance facing COVID-19 outbreak showing the highest levels of responsibility," Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Dr Mohammad Shtayyeh has recognized the efforts of WHO’s Head of Office, Dr Gerald...

21 October 2020

Research and practice for health and human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, October 2020

20 October 2020, Birzeit & Jerusalem – Twenty-five participants from civil society organizations working on health and human rights, in addition to undergraduate and postgraduate students, today completed a 5-day course on Research and Practice in Health and Human Rights. The course was organized by the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University, Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance, UNFPA Palestine,...

14 September 2020

Saja delayed access to the treatment she needs, September 2020

14 September 2020 - Saja She needs a bone marrow transplant, not available in the Gaza Strip, and has not been able to access the treatment she needs since March 2020. Saja’s mother is from Morocco, and she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia during a family visit to Rabat, Morocco, in May 2019. Saja received her initial chemotherapy in Rabat, before...

19 August 2020

WHO pays tribute to Real Life Heroes on World Humanitarian Day: Salsabeel

Salsabeel Salhab is a 19-year-old volunteer paramedic working with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) in the Bethlehem governorate. Alongside this, she works with her father in the family business. Salsabeel began volunteering when she was just 14 years old, after PMRS teams came to her school and introduced the students to their work. She joined courses in first aid...

19 August 2020

WHO pays tribute to Real Life Heroes on World Humanitarian Day: Abed

Abed Almuhdi Ghareeb is a 25-year-old paramedic and coordinator of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) ambulance teams and volunteers in Bethlehem governorate. He also works as youth project coordinator in the southern districts and suburbs of Jerusalem. Abed Almuhdi lives in Dheisheh refugee camp and began volunteering with PMRS when he was just 13 years old. His journey started when PMRS...

28 July 2020

6-year-old Manal returns to the Gaza Strip after being unable to cross to Jordan for treatment

Manal is a 6-year-old girl from Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip. She had surgery back in July 2019 to remove a type of cancer called a neuroblastoma. Afterwards, she needed intensive chemotherapy only available outside the Gaza Strip and had to apply for Israeli-issued permits to exit for treatment. She received her initial treatment at An-Najah...

28 July 2020

Exam success for Palestinian patient despite barriers to accessing essential healthcare

Asrar, from Jabalia in the north of Gaza Strip, was diagnosed with a bone cancer called an osteosarcoma in her left lower leg in April 2018. She required radiotherapy, only available outside the Gaza Strip. From October 2018, Asrar attended Tel Hashomer Hospital, east of Jaffa, where she underwent extensive investigations, amputation of her leg, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, as well...

17 June 2020

June 17 2020, Jerusalem – A substantial delivery of personal protective equipment and medical items was supplied today by the European Union and the World Health Organization to the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network (EJHN) to support preparedness for COVID-19. At the hand over event at Augusta Victoria Hospital, the European Union’s Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff said: “These medical supplies and...

11 June 2020

Patients in the Gaza Strip unable to obtain Israeli-issued permits to access the healthcare

Following suspension of permit processing and coordination, Palestinian patients face additional difficulties to accessing healthcare. Before March, there were more than 1,750 permit applications each month for Gaza patients and more than 7,000 permit applications each month for West Bank patients, though this number reduced drastically during the COVID-19 outbreak. Patients need permits to reach health services in different parts...

20 April 2020

It was very stressful,’ Bethlehem nurse on-call during COVID-19 pandemic

In early April 2020, 56-year-old paediatric nurse Awatef Handal was called by her employer Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem in the West Bank to assist with a suspected case of COVID-19, a boy from Hebron district. As the on-call nurse was Awatef’s job to stay with the young boy while he had a test taken for COVID-19. “It was very stressful,...

20 April 2020

Midwife recalls delivering 52 babies in Gaza during military incursion

In 2004, the community of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip was closed off during a military incursion and pregnant women could not reach hospitals to deliver their babies, until Feeza Shraim and her other volunteer health workers were able to help.Feeza is a midwife from Beit Hanoun with 13 children and 30 years’ experience in nursing and midwifery. When...

09 April 2020

April 9 2020, Jerusalem – The World Health Organization today thanked the Austrian Development Cooperation for its €250,000 contribution to support the WHO’s response to COVID-19 in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The world is facing an unprecedented challenge with communities and economies everywhere affected by the growing COVID-19 pandemic. In the oPt, a State of Emergency has been effective since...

06 March 2020

5 March 2020, Gaza Strip - Today the World Health Organization in partnership with the Ministry of Health launched a Limb Reconstruction Centre for Gaza Strip, providing hundreds of Palestinians injured with gunshot wounds, with permanent specialized and centralised care.  Based at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis and generously funded with UK aid, EU humanitarian aid, by the Swiss Agency...

02 March 2020

Three-year-old Jana from Gaza gets permit to travel for cancer treatment, after five months delay.

Three-year-old Jana from Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip has cancer, but she hasn’t been able to access the treatment she needs since October last year. Jana and her mother’s applications for Israeli-issued permits, required for her to access health facilities outside the Gaza Strip, have been repeatedly delayed or denied. Jana’s mother, Maysa, was increasingly concerned, “Jana...

25 February 2020

Health advice and resources: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Advice for the public Myth busters English Arabic English Arabic Videos Questions and Answers English Arabic EnglishArabic Advice for health workers Guide to addressing social stigma English Arabic English Further information: Dr. Gerald Rockenschaub, WHO oPt Head of Office, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, WHO Health Emergencies Team Lead, WHO oPt, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Alice Plate, Communication Specialist, WHO oPt, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

30 January 2020

Another important step towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all Palestinians

20 January 2020, Ramallah – Strong political leadership and engagement at a recent health reform workshop in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt), has demonstrated further commitment towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), to enable all Palestinians to access quality health services without financial distress. Despite Palestine’s long tradition of health insurance, people’s out of pocket expenses for healthcare remain high.  “No one should get sick...

08 January 2020

Huda, a cancer nurse in Gaza: “We feel frustrated and helpless to watch as a patient’s health deteriorates.”

Huda is a nurse in the cancer outpatient department at Al Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City. She has been working with cancer patients for 15 years.  The work is not easy and cancer departments in Gaza face severe shortages of drugs and supplies, as well as lack of equipment. In November 2019, almost half (48%) of essential drugs stocks were at...

22 December 2019

WHO doctor awarded for helping the mothers and babies of Gaza

22 December 2019, Gaza – “Families and in particular, mothers and infants, are the essence of any society and they should never be neglected. I am immensely honoured and grateful for this recognition, which is a true reflection of the global and regional efforts to improve mother and newborn health in all settings. This reward is a huge boost to...

17 November 2019

Patient and health worker shot with live ammunition during Gaza’s Great March of Return

Sabreen is a 28-year-old first responder and team leader of the Nabed Al-Hayat team, working east of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Sabreen established the independent team on 6 April 2018, soon after the beginning of Gaza’s Great March of Return. Her team of 13 at the start of demonstrations included Abdullah al-Qutati, who was shot and...

08 October 2019

WHO launches report on the Right to Health 2018, October 2019

October 2019, Ramallah – WHO today released its report, “Right to Health in the occupied Palestinian territory: 2018”. The report examines obstacles to achieving the highest attainable standard of health for Palestinians living under occupation, including barriers to adequate health care provision, access to health care, determinants of health beyond health care and health attacks. The launch event was held in...

09 September 2019

WHO supports primary health care targeting vulnerable communities in the West Bank

06 September 2019 - The World Health Organization (WHO) supports health partners to deliver primary healthcare services to over 12,000 people in the West Bank through mobile clinics. With funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, two mobile clinics, run by CARE international and Health Work Committee, are providing basic life-saving services and laboratory tests, women’s healthcare, mental health...

04 September 2019

Strengthening universal health coverage in the occupied Palestinian territory

4 September 2019 – The World Health Organization (WHO), at the request of the Prime Minister, conducted a high-level expert mission to the occupied Palestinian territory to support the Ministry of Health and partners in accelerating efforts towards universal health coverage (UHC). WHO experts reviewed the current status of UHC to advise on strategic options to strengthen health system capacities...

12 July 2019

WHO, Ministry of Health and OHCHR strengthen protection of healthcare in the occupied Palestinian territory

12 July 2019, oPt - The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and other health and human rights partners to strengthen the protection of healthcare in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). With financial support from the European Union and the Swiss Agency for...

17 June 2019

Powering health: WHO brings solar energy to the health sector in Gaza

17 June 2019, Gaza  - The World Health Organization (WHO) and implementing partners inaugurated the newly installed solar power plant at Nasser hospital in the Gaza Strip. Funded by the Government of Japan, the solar plant as a source of alternative energy will reduce the reliance of the hospital on donated fuel for emergency generators and contribute to build resilience...

13 June 2019

The closing ceremony of the mental health project in the occupied Palestinian territory

13 June 2019, Bethlehem – The Palestinian Minister of Health Dr Mai Alkaila and representatives from the European Union (EU) and from the World Health Organization (WHO) marked the ending of WHO’s project “Building Palestinian Resilience: Improving Psycho-Social and Mental Health responses to emergency situations” in the occupied Palestinian territory. The project, funded by the EU since 2016, supported the Ministry...

29 May 2019

The Gaza trauma response: WHO conducted a one-year analysis of trauma injuries in Gaza

29 May 2019 - The World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with over 20 agencies conducted a detailed analysis of one year of trauma injuries in Gaza and its humanitarian impact. From 30th March 2018 to 30th March 2019, 277 Palestinians were killed and 28,014 injured. Although any health system in the world would be overwhelmed if it had to manage...

23 May 2019

Overcoming barriers to health care access in the West Bank with mobile clinics

27 May 2019 - A small room in an improvised school in Zakariah village, the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory, used to serve as a patient consultation space for a mobile clinic providing primary healthcare services in the area. Last year, the clinic stopped operating due to a lack of funding, leaving a community of 650 without access to essential...

20 May 2019

Health attacks continue during Gaza’s Great March of Return

20 May 2019 – Mohamed, a 24-year-old first responder, was injured during demonstrations in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Friday 10 March. He had seen a child of approximately 12 years injured from gas inhalation near the Gaza fence, and had gone forward to treat him and bring him to the nearby medical point of the Ministry of Health: “I went forward...

15 May 2019

UN Special Coordinator visited WHO solar electrification project in Gaza

15 May 2019, Gaza - UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov visited a solar electrification project at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza. The project is implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO) with financial support from the Government of Japan. It aims to contribute to the continuous functioning and resilience of the hospital by equipping...