15 June 2016
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This week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released its annual report on humanitarian vulnerabilities facing residents of the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. The report, ‘Fragmented Lives: Humanitarian Overview 2015’, highlights the continuing impact of Israel’s prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territory, now in its 50th year, on the rights and wellbeing of Palestinians.
The end of 2015 saw an upsurge of violence, with random stabbing attacks on Israelis, and large numbers of Palestinian casualties as a result of clashes with Israeli security forces. In the West Bank, 2015’s violence claimed 25 Israeli and 146 Palestinian lives, and resulted in over 14,000 Palestinian injuries.
Clashes near the border in Gaza also caused a high number of injuries, resulting from Israeli security forces’ use of live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at protests.
Unexploded bombs from the 2014 attacks on Gaza also continued to endanger Palestinians, claiming 6 lives and causing over 60 injuries. Last year, British surgeons visiting Gaza with MAP and our partner IDEALS performed operations on children injured by such explosive remnants of war (ERWs). Through the MAP-supported Limb Reconstruction Unit at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, our programmes are set to provide treatment to any future injuries from these weapons.
Also in Gaza, the report found that in December approval rates for Palestinians needing to leave via the Erez Crossing into Israel for medical treatment approved dipped to their lowest rate since 2009. With the Rafah crossing into Egypt closed for all but a few days over the year, exit via Erez is vital for patients in Gaza to get specialised treatment at hospitals in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and abroad:
During the year, there was an increase in the absolute number of medical permits issued, along with a decline in approval rates which, by the end of December, was the lowest (67 per cent) since May 2009. Restrictions were also placed on patient companions, including raising the minimum age to 55.
Attacks on healthcare
The OCHA report also describes attacks on healthcare personnel and facilities in 2015 during the clashes in 2015, something highlighted earlier this year by MAP and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI) with the release of our ‘Healthcare Denied’ fact sheet in March.
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Some actions by the Israeli authorities during the last quarter of 2015, in the context of the escalation in attacks and violence, impacted on the ability of health workers to provide care to those in need. These included the forcible entry of Israeli police forces on two occasions to the Al Makassed hospital in East Jerusalem, and the entry of undercover Israeli forces into Al Ahli hospital in Hebron, which resulted in the fatal shooting of a Palestinian man. The placing of checkpoints, particularly in Hebron city and East Jerusalem, also impeded the access of patients, ambulances and medical staff to hospitals. Between 2 October and 27 December, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) recorded 333 incidents involving: attacks on its staff and paramedics (147); damage to its property (93); and delays of ambulances (93). |
OCHA also found 2015 had failed to provide accountability for violations against medical safe spaces during the 2014 attacks on Gaza, in which 17 hospitals, 45 ambulances, and 56 primary healthcare facilities were damaged or destroyed:
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In June 2015, the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict issued its findings and recommendations, noting that information gathered pointed to the possible commission of war crimes by Israel and by Hamas and other armed groups, in addition to serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by all parties. On August 2015, the Palestinian Government established an Independent National Commission to monitor the implementation of the recommendations, but so far, no information has been released regarding its findings. Additionally, while the Gaza Ministry of Interior reportedly launched an investigation on the summary executions of alleged collaborators during the 2014 hostilities, no further information has been made available. On the Israeli side, the latest update issued by the Military Advocate General in June 2015 indicates that he has ordered the opening of criminal investigations into 22 cases of alleged violations by Israeli soldiers, which resulted so far in one criminal indictment issued for a case of looting. In a report issued in March 2016, the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed serious concern about the lack of implementation of these recommendations by all sides, including those related to the investigation of alleged violations and the prosecution of perpetrators |
MAP, in partnership with the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and Lawyers for Human Rights, continues to campaign for investigation and accountability into attack on healthcare in Gaza during 2014. Next month, we will release a report to update on the lack of accountability for the cases featured in our 2015 report, ‘No More Impunity: Gaza's health sector under attack’.
Featured image: A demolished Palestinian home in Shu'fat. Photo: EAPPI/J. Svanelind