24 February 2017
Two weeks ago, Tommy Sheppard MP (SNP) joined Margaret Ferrier MP (SNP) and Baroness Sheehan (LD) on the latest delegation of parliamentarians to the West Bank with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu).
On Sunday, he reported back from the trip, describing what he witnessed of the impact of occupation on the lives and health of Palestinians. The group saw first-hand the impact of increasing demolitions of Palestinian homes, the expansion of settlements, and barriers to free movement:
“We saw several premature babies on incubators. One was born at 29 weeks and will stay on oxygen until she reaches two kilos. Her mother came from Gaza to deliver her but had to return when her permit ran out. Now she cannot visit as the authorities say the baby is the patient and you have to be getting treatment to get a permit.”
“The doctors at Mekassed also told us that a major problem they experience is “back to back transfers” of patients. This is where an ambulance from Gaza or the West Bank is stopped at a checkpoint and the patient is stretchered through the controls to a separate ambulance waiting on the Israeli side. On average this takes 24 minutes and the delay has been fatal on occasion.”
You can learn more about the barriers facing Palestinians as they seek to access medical care in our latest briefing paper, written with Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI).
To read the rest of Tommy Sheppard MP’s article on his recent visit, click here.