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- Ambulances delayed, patients blocked from care amid Israeli closures in West Bank, PHRI says
- Patients stranded at checkpoints, some in ambulances, as women give birth without hospital access
LONDON: Israeli military closures since Friday around the occupied West Bank city of Nablus have severely disrupted access to hospitals and emergency care, an Israeli medical rights group has said.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel warned that the measures, which have effectively sealed off cities, villages and surrounding communities, have left ambulances unable to reach patients and blocked urgent medical care.
“The closures are still continuing today,” Imran Anati, a researcher in PHRI’s occupied Palestinian territory department, told Arab News on Monday. “While some checkpoints reopen from time to time, random closures are still taking place.”
He added that inspections at open checkpoints have become significantly more stringent, with vehicles checked individually, causing long delays. He said: “In practice, every vehicle is being checked individually.”
The restrictions were imposed after a fatal incident near Nablus on Friday, July 24. Since then, patients have struggled to reach hospitals and emergency teams have been unable to respond effectively, with frontline workers describing the impact as unprecedented.
The consequences have already been severe. Early on Monday, an unborn Palestinian baby died after Israeli soldiers delayed an ambulance at the Awarta checkpoint, AFP reported.
The vehicle, dispatched from the village of Qaryut, was carrying a pregnant woman in a critical condition to a hospital in Nablus.
Beyond emergency cases, routine but essential care has also been disrupted. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said roadblocks had prevented 12 dialysis patients from reaching treatment, according to Palestinian media.
PHRI reported additional cases of patients stranded at checkpoints, some inside ambulances.
In response, the Red Crescent has opened 72 first aid points across the northern and southern West Bank to help ambulances reach patients, Ameed Ahmed, a director at the organization, told Palestinian Radio Alam.
Access gaps, however, remain. PHRI said several women were forced to give birth without reaching hospitals: two delivered inside ambulances, while a third gave birth at a clinic in Aqraba after medical teams were unable to evacuate her.
In another case, an ambulance was turned back near an Israeli settlement after being denied entry.
“Sealing off entire communities while preventing ambulances from reaching patients or evacuating the wounded places civilians’ lives at immediate risk,” Anati said in a statement on Sunday, urging Israeli authorities to ensure unimpeded access for medical personnel, in line with international humanitarian law.
The closures followed a violent incident in the northern village of Tal on Friday that left at least four Palestinians and two Israelis dead.
Palestinians in the village told the BBC that residents confronted Jewish settlers who were attacking them, and that Israeli soldiers later opened fire.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had responded to reports that hikers had been attacked, adding that assailants seized a security guard’s weapon and killed him before being shot dead.
Three of the Palestinians killed were members of the same family. The second Israeli fatality was a soldier.
In the aftermath, the Israeli military said it was preparing for “extensive counterterrorism operational activity” in the area. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said he would speed up the establishment and legalization of farm outposts in the West Bank.
Separately, PHRI said Israeli forces entered Nablus Specialized Hospital on Friday while searching for a body, disrupting medical operations.
“The entry of Israeli forces into a functioning hospital while searching for a body constitutes a grave violation of medical neutrality and undermines the special protection afforded to hospitals under international law,” Anati said on Friday.
He stressed that hospitals “must never become sites of military operations that disrupt medical care, intimidate healthcare workers, or compromise the treatment of patients.”
Anati also warned that sealing off entire communities and preventing ambulances from reaching patients or transporting the wounded “puts lives at immediate risk.”
The developments reflect a broader tightening of movement across the West Bank.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded in an April report 925 active movement obstacles by late 2025 — a 43 percent increase over the 20-year average — affecting about 3.4 million Palestinians.
Settler violence has also intensified since Oct. 7, 2023, when Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following a Hamas-led attack. According to UN figures, 1,114 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, the vast majority by Israeli forces, with at least 35 deaths linked to settler attacks.