The UN agency called in a statement for “the immediate and effective protection of civilians and the health system in the West Bank.”
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 521 Palestinians, including 126 children, have been killed, and more than 5,200, including 800 children, have been injured in violence in the West Bank, according to the World Health Organization.
The ruling Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, for its part, estimates that at least 545 people have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since October 7.
The organization expressed its regret that the influx of infected people increases the burden of “emergency care in health institutions that are already suffering from pressure” and can only operate at 70 percent of their capacity due to lack of funds.
The West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, has witnessed an escalation in violence for more than a year, especially since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The war broke out on October 7 after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory, leaving 1,194 people dead, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official Israeli data.
During this attack, 251 hostages were taken, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 41 who the Israeli army says have died.
Israel responded with a violent campaign of bombing, raids, and ground attacks that have so far killed at least 37,266 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the latest toll from the Ministry of Health in the Strip.
Most hospitals in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or severely damaged since the beginning of the war, but the World Health Organization also recorded 480 attacks on health facilities or ambulances in the West Bank between October 7 and May 28.
These attacks resulted in the deaths of 16 people and the injury of 95 others, according to the organization.
According to the World Health Organization, access to health care is also complicated in the West Bank due to the closure of crossing points between Israel and the West Bank, increasing insecurity and the closure of entire villages.
The organization said that the serious financial crisis, exacerbated by Israel’s withholding of an increasing share of the taxes it collects from Palestinians since October 7, has led to “health workers receiving only half of their salaries for almost a year,” while “45 percent of essential medicines are out of stock.”
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