Palestinians face mounting barriers to healthcare in West Bank as charities struggle to fill growing gap
LONDON: Sujood, 29, a mother of two young children, suffered cardiac arrest in late July as an ambulance rushed her to a hospital in Ramallah. On the outskirts of her hometown of Sinjil, the ambulance encountered a closed Israeli army gate guarded by soldiers.
Her husband pleaded for help and the troops were informed of the emergency situation, but the gate remained closed for about 30 minutes, according to local reports. Faroun was dead by the time she reached the hospital.
Weeks earlier, a 4-month-old boy, Ahmad, reportedly died in Deir Ammar, west of Ramallah, after Israeli forces blocked an ambulance from reaching him.
Humanitarian and rights groups say deaths such as these reflect a broader deterioration in healthcare across the occupied West Bank, where checkpoints, road closures, settler violence and the financial crisis affecting the Palestinian Authority are limiting access to treatment and placing strain on hospitals and clinics.
