The occupation continues to besiege Jenin Governmental Hospital for the seventh consecutive day

For the seventh consecutive day, the Israeli occupation army continues to besiege Jenin Governmental Hospital (Martyr Khalil Suleiman Governmental Hospital), by placing earthen barriers at its entrance and bulldozing the roads leading to it, as part of its siege and storming of Jenin camp after launching a military operation called "Iron Walls."

The Israeli military operation destroyed the infrastructure of Jenin camp and the surrounding roads, which hindered the continuation of necessary medical services in the health centers in the governorate, and put the lives of hundreds of patients and injured at risk, especially since Jenin Governmental Hospital is located next to Jenin camp. The director of Jenin Hospital, Dr. Wissam Bakr, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the occupation forces stationed 100 meters from the hospital entrance carry out daily inspections of the medical staff working in the hospital as they go to work and as they leave. They also search every ambulance that arrives at the hospital, and check the ID cards of the patients and injured who are being transported, after obstructing their access to the hospital for hours.”

“The occupation has cut off the road between Jenin Governmental Hospital and the nearby Al Amal Hospital by deploying its forces in that area,” Bakr added. “Among the major challenges we face during this raid is the occupation forces’ bulldozing of the eastern road and the main road leading to the hospital entrance using military bulldozers. Therefore, the real danger lies in the difficulty of reaching the hospital due to the lack of paved roads. With the rains falling in the past few days, citizens’ access to the hospital has become more complicated, which negatively affects the health of patients who cannot reach it.”

Bakr pointed out that the hospital faced a shortage of fuel during the first three days of the raid, before the competent authorities were able to provide the hospital with it, but that does not eliminate fears of a repeat of previous raids in which the occupation cut off fuel and water to the camp, threatening the lives of 50 patients inside the hospital. Bakr explained that the hospital’s outpatient clinics are not operating these days, due to the conditions created by the occupation around the hospital. He said: “Patients are only received by ambulance, as there are no outpatient clinics at this stage. We only provide basic services, which include emergency and kidney dialysis, and yesterday we were able to reopen the oncology department.”

Bakr appealed to the concerned institutions to facilitate patients' access to the hospital and not to obstruct them, stressing that any delay in patients receiving their medical services negatively affects their health and poses a risk to their lives. He continued: "Patients' families are forced to transport them in private ambulances, which increases the financial cost for them, as this exceeds the capacity of some families, especially the elderly and cancer patients, especially since the hospital follows up on about 500 cancer cases on a regular basis, and they receive their treatment in the hospital departments, and all their lives are threatened due to the current situation."

Bakr pointed out that there are patients who need MRI scans and have been waiting for their appointments for two months, as Jenin Hospital is the only entity that provides this service in the northern West Bank, so the inability of patients to access it has caused great confusion in scheduling appointments and medical services.

In response to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed’s question about the hospital’s communication with the Palestinian Ministry of Health and international institutions, Bakr replied: “We informed the Ministry of Health of the developments in the situation as they happened, and they in turn communicated with the relevant and international parties. We were also contacted by parties such as the Red Cross and the United Nations, and we provided them with a clear picture of the violations committed by the occupation forces.” Bakr pointed out that what is happening to Jenin Hospital poses a grave danger to the lives of patients, and leads to great suffering and delays in obtaining the necessary treatment, which may put their lives at risk.

Bakr confirmed that the hospital had been subjected to similar measures during each raid over the past months, such as searching ambulances and patients, but this was the first time that a comprehensive siege had been imposed on the hospital by placing earthen barriers at its entrances.

New Arab