Bulletin #121: Israeli forces renew crackdown on Health Work Committees in West Bank
This fortnight
New reports about the abuse faced by Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya – taken by Israeli forces from his workplace at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza in December 2024 – have led to a new wave of mobilizations and demands for his release by international networks.
Dr. Abu Safiya’s testimonies to his lawyer serve as a reminder of the systematic torture and violence to which Palestinian health workers are exposed daily by occupation forces, not only in the Gaza Strip. In a People’s Health Dispatch exclusive, we report on a new wave of Israeli authorities’ attacks on the Health Work Committees in the West Bank.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to alarm global health authorities: while trials for dedicated treatments are now underway, the fallout of the outbreak is expected to cost billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, and at least hundreds of lives.
In 2026 alone, the four-year-long war in Sudan has killed at least 330 children. Recently, UNICEF reported there is “no safe place left” for children in war-torn areas, relaunching calls for an end to the fighting.
In India, US-based multinational CorroHealth recently announced its intention to lay off 900 workers in Keralam state. The move led to large protests and mobilizations, including by the Center of Indian Trade Unions.
In the coming period, People's Health Dispatch will be published on a monthly basis. Sign up here to receive the new issue in early August.
Featured articles
‘They brought me here to kill me,’ Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya tells lawyer
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s life is in imminent danger as he remains imprisoned by the Israeli occupation for a year and a half.
Israel intensifies crackdown on Palestinian health sector with arrests in West Bank
Israel carries out targeted assassinations and arrests against Palestinian health workers, while demolishing and shutting health facilities in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank as part of its ethnic cleansing policy.
Ebola death toll exceeds 500 as the first clinical trial begins
“Even if the outbreak is contained, the DRC alone could lose more than USD 1 billion and 55,000 jobs," said UNDP Resident Representative Damien Mamma, warning that a million more in the country could be pushed into poverty.
Protests erupt after US pharma company fires 900 employees in India’s Keralam state
Unions and employees claim the company decided to close its offices in Keralam after it failed to exploit them.
Short reads
‘No safe place left’ for children in war-torn regions of Sudan, says UNICEF
The war in Sudan, which continues to rage in its fourth year, has killed or injured at least 330 children in the first half of 2026, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on July 6.
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Salud
Hoda Sherif