Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem - March 22, 3025

ACTION ITEM FOR THE WEEK

Early 3/18, Israel resumed heavy bombing of Gaza, killing more than 400 Palestinians. By 3/19, Israeli ground forces retook the Netzarim corridor, essentially cutting Gaza in half and blocking all north-south passage. Netanyahu has promised "this is only the beginning." Demand that the United States stop funding this genocidal war now!

1. Write your Members of Congress to Co-sponsor the Resolutions of Disapproval:

Demand they block the $12 billion in weapons for Israel Trump has requested by signing on to the Resolutions of Disapproval introduced in both houses in February. here

2. Write your Members of Congress to request they meet with Doctors Against Genocide:

Demand that your Members of Congress meet with Doctors Against Genocide and demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, a halt to all military aid to Israel, and immediate humanitarian relief for Gaza. Mention your medical credentials in your note—it helps! here

3. Amplify these messages:

Send this message to everyone you know and ask them to do the same.

Meetings

Jewish Voice for Peace National Meeting, May 1-4, Baltimore MD

Come together to learn, skill up, plan, build community and get organized to keep making our strongest possible contribution to the movement for Palestinian liberation, as well as the fight against fascism at home. here

And when making travel arrangements, avoid Airbnb and Booking.com because:

“Seized, settled, let: how Airbnb and Booking.com help Israelis make money from stolen Palestinian land” here

1st Palestinian Health Alliance Symposium 2025: Health Research and Practice in Conditions of War: Capacity to Endure and Resist

The PHA is an informal network of Palestinian, regional and international researchers, committed to describing, analyzing, and evaluating the health and health care of Palestinians, to contributing to the international scientific literature, and to developing local evidence-based policy and practice.

The remote symposium will be on Zoom on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 from 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Palestine/Lebanon Time). Register no later than Monday 31 March 2025: here

For updates, follow our LinkedIn page. For inquiries, contact us at pha.icph@birzeit.edu

Reports

A new UN report found that Israel carried out “genocidal acts” by deliberately targeting fertility facilities with the intention of preventing births among Palestinians in Gaza. The report also detailed systematic sexual abuse against Palestinians. here, here

A report from Palestine Legal summarizing current legal decisions and issues. here

Journal articles

Doctors and medical staff in Gaza describe the night they endured after Israel launched airstrikes in the early hours of 3/18, killing 400+ and inundating emergency departments with bodies and hundreds of injured people. Mohammad Qishta, a MSF doctor at Nasser Hospital, called the situation “disastrous,” with his hospital receiving “bodies and parts of bodies, most of them children and women… Doctors in the emergency room were crying because of the intensity and the difficulty of the situation.” British Medical Journal here (3/18/25) BMJ 2025;388:r557

UN on the Israeli renewal of war in Gaza

Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the OPT, on 3/18: “Waves of airstrikes occurred across the Gaza Strip since the early hours of the morning. Initial and unconfirmed reports indicate that hundreds have been killed. This is unconscionable. A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately. People in Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering. An end to hostilities, sustained humanitarian assistance, release of the hostages and the restoration of basic services and people’s livelihoods, are the only way forward.

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator on 3/19: The killing of a UN colleague and injuries to 5 others in strikes on our clearly designated UN compound in Gaza are infuriating. We grieve with the family of our colleague. And, on their behalf and for those who continue the work, we demand answers.

International law is clear. Civilians – including UN staff and humanitarian workers – must not be targeted. The international community must join us in insisting on a genuine investigation and accountability.

Yesterday, in one of the single deadliest days in Gaza, hundreds of people – many of them children – were also killed in airstrikes. And, as I set out to the Security Council yesterday, for nearly 3 weeks Gaza has now been completely sealed off to food, medicine, fuel, cooking gas.

The gains we made during the ceasefire in supporting survivors have been reversed. Families are being forced to move, living once again in fear of bombardment and death.

The blockade of lifesaving aid must be lifted. The hostages must be released. Civilians must be protected. The ceasefire must be renewed.

GAZA

After 2 weeks of systematic Israeli violations of the tenuous ceasefire agreement, Israel officially resumed its genocidal war on Gaza. Despite Israel’s killing of over 400 people, Hamas remains committed to completing the ceasefire. here

Palestinians killed or injured by Israel after the renewal of Israeli aggression on 3/18/25:

436 Palestinians killed

678 Palestinians injured

Killed since 10/23: 49,547 + (74 this week prior to the Israeli resumption of hostilities, including 44 corpses unearthed in the rubble)

Injured since 10/23: 112,719+ (114 this week prior to the Israeli resumption of hostilities)

41.9% of the casualties reported are children.

28.7% of the casualties reported are men.

21.6% of the casualties reported are women.

7.8% of the casualties reported are elderly people

Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza: 407 (0 this week)

Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza: 2,584 (0 this week)

Hostages in Gaza: 59

March 2025 Israel Prison Service (IPS) data lists: 9,406 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,486 sentenced prisoners, 2,960 remand detainees, 3,405 administrative detainees (held without trial), and 1,555 “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza still detained by the Israeli military since 10/2023.

For more Gaza data: here, here

Infographic on Humanitarian aid by UN partners during the 1st phase of the ceasefire. here

See the full report here:

Israeli attacks

Israeli airstrikes and bombardments across Gaza restarted on the morning of 3/18, devastating a school in Gaza City, Deir al Balah, and IDP sites in Khan Younis and Rafah. As of noon, 404 people were killed and 562 injured. Prior to the Israeli resumption of war:

• 3/10, 3 killed in Al Bureij refugee camp, Deir al Balah.

• 3/11, girl shot and killed in Deir al Balah.

• 3/13, Israeli attack killed a boy and injured his mother in their IDP tent in Beit Hanoun

• 3/13, boy killed in Gaza City.

• 3/14, a fisher was killed by a shell fired at his boat off As Sudaniya, northwest of Beit Lahiya. “Anyone who goes near the water risks his life, but if we leave the sea we die.” Fishermen cling to what remains of Gaza’s fishing industry, devastated by the war and years of Israeli restrictions. here

• 3/15, 8 staff of the Al-Khair Charity Foundation, and 3 journalists killed in an airstrike while documenting humanitarian relief efforts in northern Gaza. The Israeli military claimed they had targeted a “terrorist cell.

• 3/15, a child killed in his IDP tent near Erez Crossing in Beit Lahiya.

• 3/17, 3 members of a family killed and several injured while collecting firewood in Al Bureij refugee camp.

• 3/17, a man and his child killed and others injured in an UNRWA school used as an IDP shelter in Al Bureij refugee camp.

Health & Hospitals

• Israeli airstrikes and bombardments restarted on 3/18; by noon, 404 were killed and 562 injured. Many bodies remain under rubble. Palestinian Civil Defense and medical teams responded despite their lack of equipment, vehicles, heavy machinery and security. MoH urgently appealed for blood donations at all hospitals after stocks were depleted. MoH General Director Dr. Munir Al Bursh stressed the need for field hospitals, beds and operating rooms. According to the Health Cluster: 13 hospitals and 4 field hospitals remain non-functional; 22 hospitals and 6 field hospitals are partially functional; 4 field hospitals but no hospitals are fully functional.

• Dr. Mohammed Abu Silmiyeh, Director of Al Shifa hospital, described the situation as “catastrophic,” with a high number of casualties, resembling the first days after 10/7/23. “This morning, there were 50 bodies at the ER and another 30 at the morgue refrigerator. Operation rooms were full, and many injured people have died in front of our eyes while we couldn’t treat them.” The health system in North Gaza has largely collapsed with only 1 oxygen generator, 1 computerized tomography (CT) scanning machine, and 1 X-ray machine, and shortages of medicines and consumables so complete that exhausted medical teams were washing and sterilizing gauze for reuse.

• Bassam Al Hamdeen, Deputy Director-General of the MoH, said 10 oxygen generation stations had been destroyed (4 at Al Shifa Hospital and 2 at Indonesian Hospital). Ongoing electricity cuts impair hospital and health center operations. 3/17, Director of the Pharmaceutical Care at MoH Dr. Alaa Hiles noted a critical shortage of essential drugs and medical consumables.

• 3/18, WHO said the medical evacuation planned for that day through Rafah Crossing had been denied. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the closure of the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, preventing any medical evacuations of injured Palestinians for treatment. About 11-13,000 people (4,500+ children) remain in urgent need of medical evacuation.

• Contrary to the ceasefire agreement, the long waits of Israel’s travel mechanisms result in the deaths of dozens of patients after enduring a harsh and prolonged denial of appropriate treatment within Gaza’s collapsed hospitals. According to PCHR, only 50 patients and their companions are allowed to travel daily, as Israeli authorities refuse travel to many. Additionally, Israeli authorities classify patients in ways that allow less critical cases to travel while preventing or delaying the travel of more critical patients. This results in the death of 5-10 patients daily, according to the Palestinian MoH. WHO notes that only 1,473 patients (579 children) were allowed to leave from 2/1-3/10. here

• Rethinking Gaza’s health system reconstruction. The ceasefire in Gaza presents (oops! presented) an opportunity to rebuild and redesign a health system for long term sustainability and autonomy. www.thelancet.com Published online March 6, 2025 here

• “Without aid entering the Gaza Strip, roughly 1 million children are living without the very basics they need to survive – yet again,” stated the UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Edouard Beigbeder. “Tragically, approximately 4,000 newborns are currently unable to access essential lifesaving care due to the major impact on medical facilities in the Gaza Strip. Every day without these ventilators, lives are lost, especially among vulnerable, premature newborns in the northern Gaza Strip.” UNFPA reported in February that of 3,540 deliveries, 20% of newborns were low birth weight, preterm, or faced other complications requiring medical care now largely unavailable in Gaza.

• Israeli military is denying international health care and humanitarian workers entry into Gaza at unprecedented rates, according to multiple doctors and aid workers. Since shortly after the “ceasefire,” as many as half of doctors with WHO preliminary approval to enter Gaza found out the night before their scheduled entry that they were rejected.

Evacuations and displacement

• 3/18, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for North Gaza and eastern Khan Younis, ordering residents to leave immediately for shelters in Gaza City and Khan Younis, affecting 65,000 people. 3 primary health facilities and 1 field hospital are in the evacuation areas.

Food & Nutrition

• The Israeli halt to incoming aid since 3/2, now compounded by their renewal of the war, will rapidly reverse the food security gains achieved during the 42-days of ceasefire. 2.1 million people are now entirely dependent on food imported during Phase One of the ceasefire. Food Security partners warn that over 1 million people risk denial of food parcels in March, and 80 of 170 community kitchens will close in 1-2 weeks, if fuel and supplies are not restocked.

• The choking of food assistance was compounded by a market price surge, with some fruits and vegetables increasing by over 200%. Diesel prices rose by 105% and cooking gas by 200%.

• Nutrition Cluster partners examined 4,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women; 10-20% have mid-upper arm circumference measurements below 23 cm, indicating acute malnutrition.

Remnants of war

• During the 42 days of ceasefire, the Mine Action group recorded 18 explosive incidents, resulting in 4 deaths (2 children) and 46 injuries (18 children).

Water & Sanitation

• A medical waste service now operates as a contingency measure to securely store infectious waste until it can be appropriately treated and disposed. Efforts were underway to establish a similar operation in northern Gaza.

Shelter

• Shelter needs remain critically high while shelter stocks dwindled during the Israeli siege. With needs surpassing resources, the Israeli attacks can only multiply the number of vulnerable, unassisted households. Rubble and debris further obstruct access and complicate aid delivery.

Prisons & Prisoners

• “We are here to kill you, not to assist you,” Israeli prison guards told Mohammad al-Mallah when he requested medical care during his imprisonment. Al-Mallah was released after 29 years in jail as part of the 2nd phase of the hostages-for-prisoners deal between Hamas and Israel. Throughout his incarceration, he witnessed and experienced the systematic abuse and medical neglect to which thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are subjected—leaving lasting physical and psychological scars. Since 10/7/23, the exact number of Gazans arrested, forcibly disappeared, and abused by Israel remains unknown. here

THE WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM

This week, Israeli forces killed 5 Palestinians and injured 82 (13 children).

Killed since October 2023: 1,062 (224 children) and injured: 16,650 (2,572 children).

For more detail: here

WHO documented 64 attacks on West Bank health care in the first 2 months of this year, causing 4 deaths and 11 injuries, and affecting 7 health facilities and 43 ambulances. 14 health staff were detained or arrested on duty. 78% of the attacks occurred in Tulkarm and Jenin.

See this Infographic on attacks on West Bank healthcare: here

Israeli attacks

• 3/11, an Israeli military operation in Jenin killed 4 with shoulder-fired missiles. The body of a 58-year-old woman was handed over to the Red Crescent at Al Jalama checkpoint on 3/11 while the other 3 bodies were withheld.

• 3/12, a West Bank man fell from a 5-story building while escaping Israeli forces raiding his West Jerusalem workplace. His body was withheld. Israeli forces have stepped up operations in Israel to detain Palestinians who lack required work permits. Hundreds have been detained.

• 3/14, Israeli forces shot and killed a man in Salem village (Nablus).

Settler violence

This week, settlers carried out 32 attacks against Palestinians, injuring 27, and damaging 180 olive trees, 8 vehicles, and 2 houses.

• 3/11, 5 Palestinians driving Huwwara (Nablus) were taken to hospital after settlers threw stones at their car, forcing them to stop, and pepper sprayed them.

• 3/11, armed settlers from a newly established outpost near Haribat an Nabim (Hebron), grazed their sheep in the community and raided houses, attacking residents with stones and clubs, sending 2 elderly men to the hospital.

• 3/11, settlers accompanied by Israeli forces assaulted two Palestinian herders with metal sticks and left them unconscious in the pastures of Hammamat Al Maleh – Al Meita herding community (Tubas). Israeli forces sealed the area, holding the injured for about an hour, after which they allowed an ambulance to transfer them to Tubas Hospital.

• 3/12, a settler was shot while driving near Ariel settlement, Salfit, and taken to hospital. Israeli forces set up roadblocks and checkpoints to search for the assailant, closing all entrances to Salfit and entrance gates of Haris, Bruqin, Yasuf, and Qarawat Bani Hassan villages. Settlers then attacked residents of Abu Atiyah Bedouin community, causing a brain hemorrhage on an elderly man still in a critical condition. 2 other Palestinians driving nearby were injured by Israeli stone throwers. 4 days later, 3 Palestinians were pepper sprayed by these same settlers.

• 3/13, about 50 settlers set fire to 3 houses in Khirbet Al Marajim Bedouin community (Nablus), attacking residents with sticks and stones and displacing 2 families (7 people, 2 children) and damaging a tractor, stealing a horse, and destroying 18 olive saplings.

• 3/16, a herder was pepper-sprayed and beaten unconscious by settlers while grazing sheep near Umm Ad Daraj Bedouin community (Hebron).

Settlements

• All Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international humanitarian law. They cause harm by affecting livelihoods, food security and access to essential services. In October 2024, the Israeli NGO Peace Now reported that 43 new settlement outposts, primarily farm outposts, had been established in the West Bank since October 2023, compared to an average of 7 outposts yearly in the prior 30 years. Settlement outposts, also illegal under Israeli law, are associated with increased attacks on nearby Bedouin and herding communities in Area C.

• The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) warned that the occupied West Bank, “is characterized by heightened volatility and a severe increase in protection risks,” noting the growing involvement of Israeli forces in settler violence which has increased in severity and frequency. This has “triggered a convergence between state and settler violence, particularly in Area C, where systemic discrimination, discriminatory zoning and planning laws, and violence against Palestinian agricultural and herding communities exacerbate displacement and dispossession.”

Demolitions & Displacement

This week, Israeli authorities demolished 12 Palestinian-owned structures for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, affecting 100 people (61 children).

• 3/12, Israeli forces in Qalqiliya demolished a 4-story residential building belonging to the family of a man accused of killing an Israeli settler in June 2024. The alleged shooter was killed in an Israeli airstrike in August 2024. 2 households (7 people, 3 children) were displaced.

Restrictions on movement

• 3/14, the 2nd Friday of Ramadan, less than 10,000 Palestinians with West Bank ID cards crossed checkpoints to reach Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, on par with the numbers for last year, but only 10% of the numbers for 2023. Ramadan access is limited by Israeli authorities to Fridays and based on gender and age (children under 12, men over 55, women over 50, with valid ID cards and a 1-day Israeli-issued permit) through 2 of 13 checkpoints along the Barrier. Access for the Al Ibrahimi Mosque is similarly limited (men 27-50 years old with inspection; men over 50 and all women without inspection) at 1 of 3 checkpoints. It is estimated that 3,500 Palestinians accessed the Al Ibrahimi Mosque on the second Friday of Ramadan.

• Israeli authorities added procedures and obstacles to limit access to East Jerusalem on Fridays during Ramadan. Fingerprints are required for entry and exit between 5:00 and 17:00 on Fridays. All main roads to the Old City are blocked by police and flying checkpoints on Fridays, forcing people to walk through temporary metal barriers to approach the Old City gates where additional mobile checkpoints do ID checks. Dozens of people were turned away before even reaching the Al Aqsa Mosque.

• There are 849 permanent or intermittent obstacles to movement controlling, restricting and monitoring Palestinian movement in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the H2 area of Hebron.  They impede Palestinian access to basic services and workplaces, and cause long delays at checkpoints. 36 were established after the Gaza ceasefire. There are 288 road gates in the West Bank, of which 60% (172) are frequently closed. 94 checkpoints are staffed 24/7; 153 are staffed intermittently.

Developments in northern West Bank

The Israeli invasion of the northern West Bank entered its 9th week. Tens of thousands have been displaced from Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, which have become almost deserted. Nur Shams demolitions destroyed 6 residential structures, affecting 30 households.

• 3/18, undercover Israeli forces raided a café in Qalqiliya, with tear gas and live ammunition, killing 1, injuring 3, and arresting 2. Ambulances were prevented from treating the wounded.

• 3/19, the Israeli military announced the imminent demolition of dozens of homes in Jenin refugee camp. Residents had 24 hours to submit a request to remove their belongings from the 66 residential structures (housing 280 families) slated for demolition. In Jenin, over 600 residential units have been rendered uninhabitable by demolitions or explosions.

• In Jenin, approximately 15.63 km of roads have been bulldozed and nearly 21 km of water networks have been destroyed, causing severe water shortages for 15,000 people.

• 3/18, Israel announced operations in Nablus. On 3/19, undercover Israeli troops, followed by other Israeli forces, raided the Ein Beit al Mai refugee camp, Nablus, killing 1 man (whose body has been withheld) and injuring 2. Israeli military removed five families from their homes, converting them into military posts. 80 families were forced to leave their homes, but most returned after Israeli forces withdrew.

Israel

• A recent Washington Post report sheds light on Israel’s new visa and registration rules for international aid organizations in the OPT, part of Israel’s strategy to limit aid to Gaza and the West Bank, undermine humanitarian work and increase risk for both local and international aid staff. The new measures grant Israel broad authority to reject the registration of NGOs providing assistance to Palestinians. The criteria for rejection are wide-ranging and include whether an organization or its employees have ever supported a boycott of Israel, denied its existence “as a Jewish and democratic state,” or supported legal actions against Israeli citizens in international courts for actions carried out while serving in the military or security agencies.

• Alice Jill Edwards, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, has called for an acceleration of investigations into the many Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody. here

United States

• Letter from Mahmod Khalil, dictated from prison: “My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night. With January’s ceasefire now broken, parents in Gaza are once again cradling too-small shrouds, and families are forced to weigh starvation and displacement against bombs. It is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom.

“I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear. For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has driven efforts to expand U.S. laws and practices that are used to violently repress Palestinians, Arab Americans, and other communities. That is precisely why I am being targeted.” here

• 3/14. US immigration officials arrested a 2nd person who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, and revoked the visa of Leqaa Kordia, a West Bank Palestinian, arrested for overstaying her student visa. The Trump administration also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student, "for advocating for violence and terrorism." The Department of Homeland Security said Srinivasan opted to "self-deport."

• A US court blocked the deportation of Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University researcher detained on accusations of “spreading Hamas propaganda,” denied by both his lawyer and employer.

• The White House said U.S. President Trump "fully supports" Israel's actions in Gaza and that Hamas "chose to play games" instead of releasing all the hostages.

Sources

OCHAOPT, British Medical Journal, DropSite News, The Guardian, Haaretz The Lancet, Mondoweiss, Palestine Chronicle, Palestine Legal, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, WHO, +972,