‘No freedom at all’: Israeli closures leave West Bank patients trapped

Following an Israeli military operation ordered across the West Bank, Palestinian ambulance services have faced unprecedented obstacles in delivering patients to hospitals. Ambulance driver Yousef Diriya described being trapped for four hours at a checkpoint while transporting kidney dialysis patients, a situation that has become routine rather than exceptional. The closures have forced medical crews to navigate significantly longer routes, with journeys that previously took 20 kilometres now requiring up to 100 kilometres of travel to reach the nearest adequate medical facilities.

Even with advance coordination and official permission, checkpoint procedures remain time-consuming and unpredictable. Drivers report undergoing repeated inspections, ID photography, and vehicle documentation at each crossing, regardless of prior arrangements. For patients requiring emergency care, these delays can prove fatal. In one documented case, ambulance driver Bashar al-Qaryuti transported a severely bleeding pregnant woman from Qaryut to Nablus but was forced to stop at Awarta checkpoint for thirty minutes. During this delay, soldiers required the vehicle to be turned off, disabling medical equipment. The pregnant woman was searched despite her critical condition, and her unborn child died before reaching the hospital.

These restrictions have intensified since a far-right government took office in Israel in late 2022 and escalated following the October 2023 conflict in Gaza. The West Bank has experienced a multiplication of checkpoints and sealed entrances, with medical personnel describing the cumulative effect as wearing and demoralizing. The restrictions have transformed routine medical transport into a dangerous undertaking where minutes lost at checkpoints can determine whether patients survive.