Shihada Makhamra, a Palestinian man from Masafer Yatta, describes how the movement restrictions are impacting access to healthcare in Hebron governorate, West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Physical injuries, mental trauma and restricted access to medical care are an everyday reality for many Palestinians living in and around the West Bank city of Hebron, warns international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières /Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in a new report published today. In “Occupied lives: the forcible transfer of Palestinians in Hebron”, MSF details the rapidly deteriorating access to medical care for Palestinians in Hebron because of restrictions imposed by Israeli forces and violence perpetrated by Israeli soldiers and settlers.

“The movement restrictions and harassment and violence by Israeli forces and settlers is inflicting immense and unnecessary suffering on Palestinians in Hebron,” says MSF humanitarian affairs manager Frederieke van Dongen. “This is having a disastrous impact on people’s mental and physical health.”