Médecins du Monde has been present in the occupied Palestinian territory for 30 years. In the West Bank, just a few hours from the Gaza Strip, the living conditions of Palestinians have deteriorated considerably in recent months. Every day is a struggle, a struggle to stay alive and remain on their land. Settler violence is increasing, arrests and house demolitions are intensifying. Land seizures and forced displacements are daily occurrences. Violence is omnipresent.
In the Hebron region, south of Bethlehem, we strive to provide continuous support to the populations: in the face of extreme brutality, healing injustice is our commitment. Relentlessly, our teams provide accompaniment and psychological support.
“Every year, the army and the settlers attack me and my livestock. They come into the mountains, the fields, around our shelters. Sometimes they come to the water troughs and damage them. Sometimes they beat my animals, sometimes they shoot at them. (…) Since the start of the war, they have put up a barrier to keep us away from our grazing lands.”
Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamdan’s story is that of hundreds of Palestinians.
Since the beginning of 2022, over 2,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their lands due to settler violence and Israeli state policies. Since October 2023, the war in Gaza has had dramatic repercussions in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. According to the Palestinian Authority, over 380 Palestinians have been killed there since then by Israeli soldiers or settlers.
Around 3 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, separated from the Gaza Strip. 500,000 Israeli settlers also live there, in settlements considered illegal under international law.