West Bank road closures cause fatal medical delays

Israeli military checkpoints and iron gates in the occupied West Bank are causing significant delays for residents, sometimes with fatal consequences. In one instance, 66-year-old Zahriya Abu Hijleh died after an ambulance was unable to enter her hometown of Deir Istiya due to a closed military gate.

To facilitate her transfer to Salfit Governmental Hospital, which was only an eight-minute drive away, the patient had to be moved from one ambulance to another at the gate and carried on foot. Her family reported that she suffered a pulmonary embolism and required urgent treatment, but the delay caused by the restrictions led to her death.

These types of closures and the network of approximately 300 checkpoints across the West Bank continue to impact daily movement and access to medical facilities for Palestinian residents.