Israel rights group warns West Bank health system near collapse as tax revenues withheld
LONDON: An Israeli rights group warned on Thursday that the Palestinian public healthcare system in the occupied West Bank was nearing collapse, saying Israel’s continued withholding of tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority had pushed hospitals and clinics to the brink.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel said in a new position paper that 447 of the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s 590 service branches had been forced to sharply cut back operations, functioning only once or twice a week.
Only 63 percent of primary healthcare centers remained partially operational in 2025, many opening just one day a week, compared with six days before Oct. 7, 2023, when Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack.
PHRI said that the cuts were directly linked to Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian Authority clearance revenues, which it described as a major source of funding for public services.
