PHA-Exchange> MSF Statements on Palestine

[aviva]

4th April 2002
(To follow updates go to www.msf.org)

MSF medical teams in the Palestinian Occupied Territories protest
against
illegal controls by armed militias

The latest incident involving MSF staff illustrates once again the now
constant violation of the international humanitarian right to access
our
patients freely.


Jerusalem - The international medical relief organisation Médecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF) says that the obstruction of medical aid for
Palestinian
civilians in the Occupied Territories has reached alarming new levels.
At a
time when ordinary Palestinians are being subjected to the most intense
military pressure, MSF has experienced severe restrictions on its
attempts
to reach the most isolated families.

Even in Hebron and the Gaza Strip, where MSF has been working and where
the
Israeli army is not currently focussing its attacks, access to medical
care
is seriously jeopardised.

MSF strongly denounces this latest incident, which illustrates once
again
the now constant violation of the international humanitarian right to
access
our patients freely. It is also in total contradiction to the
guarantees
offered to our teams by the Israeli Defence Forces in the occupied
Territories concerning freedom of movement for medical teams.

In the past, we have asked for and received the right to move
unfettered in
our work. However, as the circumstances have deteriorated, we are
finding
that these permissions are less and less reliable. At the moment, even
when
we receive a go-ahead, we find that we are often denied passage to
particular destinations.

MSF considers this to be effectively a removal of our right to access
victims of the current conflict as it is also a removal of the right of
the
civilians to access medical care. We are very concerned about the
apparent
indifference of the army in such instances. This includes not only the
behaviour of the soldiers at checkpoints, but also the fact that the
army
allows independent armed militia to intervene, at will, in our work.

MSF is currently trying to deliver medico-psychological services to
Palestinian families living in Hebron and the Gaza strip. Our teams,
made up
of ten medical expatriates and 23 Palestinian staff are also trying to
reach
others towns in the West Bank to assess all medical and emergency
needs.