Bulletin #93: Israel targets healthcare in West Bank; Trump announces withdrawal from WHO

People's Health Dispatch

27 Jan 2025 • 4 min read

This fortnight

The recently introduced ceasefire in Gaza has not stopped Israeli assaults on Palestinian hospitals, health centers, and health workers, including in the West Bank. Dozens of nurses, doctors, and other health staff, including hospital directors Ahmed Muhanna and Hussam Abu Safiya, remain arbitrarily detained, while international health workers face severe restrictions to movement and work. With rehabilitation facilities destroyed, the long-term impacts of this genocide, especially on children, will be felt for decades.

In the United States, Donald Trump marked his return to the presidency by announcing a withdrawal from the World Health Organization. This decision is expected to deal a blow to the UN health agency’s finances, yet some analysts see it as an opportunity for the Global South to gain more influence over global health policies.

Meanwhile, health workers in the Philippines and France continue their fight against privatization, deteriorating working conditions, and the redirection of public funds to the private sector, highlighting shared struggles against corporate dominance in healthcare.

In focus: Health in Palestine

After Gaza, Israel attacks Jenin’s hospitals

Following the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, Israel has shifted its focus to attacking hospitals and health workers in the West Bank

In Gaza, fifteen children disabled a day in Israeli attacks

New analyses highlight the devastating toll of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, revealing that 15 children each day sustained injuries leading to permanent disabilities