The number one health issue in Palestine is the Israeli occupation

What the report says

Al Jazeera published an opinion article on July 19, 2026, by Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, international president of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), arguing that Israeli occupation and related policies are the central driver of Palestinian health harms in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Abdelmoneim says conditions since October 7, 2023 have severely damaged Palestinians’ ability to live safely and access medical care.

In Gaza, the author says violence has continued despite a ceasefire, citing 1,144 Palestinians killed and 3,703 injured since the truce was announced as of July 18, and a total death toll since the start of the war exceeding 73,200. He also describes the expansion of Israeli military control through a shifting “Yellow Line,” saying it has compressed more than two million people into about one-third of the Strip, worsening overcrowding, sanitation failures and disease seen in MSF clinics.

The article says Palestinians in the West Bank face escalating settler and military violence, movement restrictions and economic pressure, with MSF receiving patients in Nablus and Hebron experiencing trauma and depression linked to those conditions. Abdelmoneim also says Israel has obstructed healthcare access, detained medical workers, restricted humanitarian organisations and blocked staff and supplies. He cites the detention of MSF surgeon Dr Mohammed Obeid after an October 2024 raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital and says more than 95 Palestinian healthcare workers remain held by Israeli forces.

The piece is explicitly marked as the author’s view, not Al Jazeera’s editorial position. It calls for a major policy shift to protect civilians, allow humanitarian access and hold governments accountable.