The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of increased obstacles created by Israel to healthcare in the occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Titled "Right to Health," the report found a slew of instances in the years 2019-2021 in which security restrictions delayed or prevented Palestinians in the two separate territories from receiving medical attention.
It called on Israel to "end the arbitrary delay and denial of permits for Palestinian patients," throughout the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
WHO said just 65% of applications for patients in Gaza to leave the coastal enclave are approved by Israel, while ambulances face an average waiting time of 68 minutes at the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza.
COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body overseeing civilian affairs in the occupied territories, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. Gaza is under an Israeli blockade that strictly controls the passage of people and goods.
Israel operates a stringent permit regime for Palestinians seeking to leave the territories for health care.
The WHO expressed concern over 385 interrogations by Israeli security forces of patients and their companions leaving the Gaza Strip in the period covered.
Ambulances often cannot cross checkpoints and so transferring patients from Palestinian ambulances to Israeli ambulances can be delayed, the report said.
It also called on Israel to "facilitate entry of all essential medicines and medical supplies," to the impoverished Gaza Strip.
Israel bans the transfer of goods to Gaza which it deems could be used for military, as part of the blockade it has imposed since Hamas took power in 2007.
A significant number of medical supplies, such as spare parts for X-ray machines and CT scanners, fall into this dual-usage category, causing shortages at hospitals in Gaza.
About 2.9 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and around 2.3 million in Gaza.
