Living in constant fear of eviction, seeing their homes demolished and having their movements restricted are some of the challenges faced by Palestinians in and around Masafer Yatta, in the southern West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Following the most recent violent and deadly incursion from Israeli forces into the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, MSF provided the MoH Hospital of the city with medical emergency supplies.

The priority now is to help dealing with the influx of injured people.

Yousef Alwikhery is an occupational therapist with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) at Al-Awda hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. He shares his experience supporting patients with physical injuries and disabilities  and their roads to recovery.

Some 1,000 Palestinians are to be evicted from their homes in the Masafer Yatta area of the West Bank, according to a plan approved by the newly sworn-in Israeli government. The move has been strongly denounced by the international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontièress (MSF), whose teams provide medical care to the area’s residents. 

In 2022, MSF teams around the world continued to respond to crises, old and new. While COVID-19 was not the emergency it was in previous years, new challenges arose. The war in Ukraine escalated in February; the political, humanitarian and economic crises in Haiti deteriorated severely; cholera emerged on an exceptional scale in several countries. 

In May 2021, Gaza was enveloped in a new wave of violence. As the bombs fell, doctors Mohammed Abu Mughaisib and Natalie Thurtle were coordinating medical activities in the territory. They reflect on their very different experiences…

Amro, Mohammad, Muawiyah and Mahmoud share an experience: they all underwent amputation after being badly wounded by the Israeli forces. They were either injured during the 2018-2019 demonstrations, known as The Great March of Return, or by an Israeli rocket in the May 2021 conflict.

They told their stories to photographer Giles Duley, himself an amputee following injuries sustained in conflict zones.

For over five decades, ever since Israel occupied the Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian people have experienced continued and repeated traumas.  

Over the past decade, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has shifted its approach to mental health care to integrate it more deliberately in all activities. 

Today, mental health care is at the forefront of our projects from Latin America to Africa, to Asia and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as across Europe. In the past 10 years, mental health consultations in our projects have risen by 230 per cent worldwide.

Last year, as COVID-19 lockdowns restricted movement in communities around the world, women in Nablus, Palestine, were suddenly trapped at home, with no escape. The only way we could reach them and continue our support was to pivot to tele-counselling—something new for our therapists and patients alike.