JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) is deeply concerned about violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the impact of what it calls a "sharp-increasing" attack on health services, its representatives on the Palestinian territories said on Tuesday.
Israel sent tanks to the West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years on Sunday, ordering the military to prepare for an extended stay to fight Palestinian militant groups in refugee camps in the area.
"We are deeply concerned about the situation in the West Bank and its impact on health", said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representatives in the West Bank and Gaza, told reporters via video link from the Gaza Strip.
"We are seeing the current hotspots of violence, attacks on health services rising sharply in the West Bank," he said.
Separately, the Israeli military said in a statement: "terrorist organizations, and in particular Hamas, use hospitals and ambulances as tools for terrorist activities."
He added that his party was taking action to prevent harm to medical workers and that military operations were essential to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens.
The WHO said 44 attacks affected the provision of health services in the West Bank so far this year. He said four health care facilities were affected.
Four patients died while waiting for the ambulance and eight health workers were injured while trying to reach patients, he said.
It said 25 health care workers and patients had been killed and 121 others injured in the West Bank since October 7, 2023 - the date of the Palestinian militant group's attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war - until February 14 this year.
The WHO also reports strict movement restrictions across the West Bank, including obstacles affecting ambulance movements and access for healthcare workers.
WHO has provided emergency supplies and trauma equipment to several hospitals in the West Bank, Peeperkorn said.
It is known that at least 40,000 Palestinians have fled their homes in Jenin and the nearby city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank since Israel began operations last month after reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza after 15 months of war.
Eight-two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between January 1 and February 13, according to the latest WHO data.
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