jordan pulse -

A 10-day Israeli military lockdown in Hebron disrupted access to health care and forcibly displaced thousands of Palestinians, international aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported on Friday.

From late October into early November, Israeli occupation forces launched military raids, forced evictions, arrests, and home demolitions across the occupied West Bank district. Heavy checkpoints and travel bans prevented medical personnel from reaching patients while blocking residents from accessing clinics, according to MSF.

The siege forced MSF to temporarily suspend mobile medical units and in-person mental health counseling. Between October 25 and 29, at least 380 patients across five rural locations outside Hebron were cut off from basic care, chronic disease medications, and psychiatric support.

Severe supply-chain blockages are worsening existing shortages throughout the regional health network, leaving high-risk patients, including those undergoing cancer treatments, without reliable care.

"It is unacceptable that entire communities are being deprived of healthcare because of sweeping movement restrictions," said MSF's Hebron Project Coordinator Federica Venturi, who urged Israeli authorities to end policies that MSF characterizes as collective punishment and ethnic cleansing.

She stated that local municipal officials estimate that 3,300 residents were displaced. Several families received less than an hour's notice to evacuate their homes, carrying minimal belongings into areas with no safe shelter.

The lockdown coincided with intensified settler attacks on farmers during the annual olive harvest, along with the continued growth of unauthorized outposts across the territory, Venturi added.

Although MSF has since resumed its mobile clinic operations, the organization warned that systemic restrictions continue to endanger vulnerable populations across the region.

//Petra// HA