Published on 6/27/2026
In the crowded streets of Ramallah, where life seems to continue between the movement of people, markets and shops, thousands of Palestinians are living a silent battle that is not easily visible to the eyes; The battle to find a medicine whose absence may mean deteriorating their health, and perhaps threatening their lives.
“When medicine becomes a luxury, unfortunately the disease becomes a death sentence.” With this phrase, Mahmoud Harbeyat summed up in a report he prepared for “+AJ” from the West Bank. The crisis that patients in the West Bank are experiencing, as it is not enough for the patient to carry a health insurance card, because the real problem begins when he arrives at the hospital and does not find the medicine he needs.
Almost half of the Palestinians who have health insurance cannot benefit from it due to the lack of medicines, so the patient finds himself facing two harsh choices: wait or search for money to buy his treatment from outside the health system.
One of the citizens, sitting in a wheelchair, describes his condition, saying: “I entrust my affairs to God, Lord of the Worlds. There is no benefit from the health insurance system,” referring to his suffering from insurance that does not provide him with the medicine he needs.
Data indicate that about 40% of the Palestinian citizen’s expenses go to purchasing medicines, which means that many patients are forced to go into debt or sell their possessions to obtain their treatment, at a time when chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and others have become linked to one question: Where is the medicine?
In hospitals, suffering is repeated daily. One patient says that he takes six types of medication because he suffers from clots, but he does not find all of it on a regular basis, adding: “Sometimes we find most of the medication, and sometimes there is a shortage of one or two types, and it is rare to find it complete.”
Ministry of Health warehouses
Although pharmacies may seem full of medicines, the biggest crisis lies in the warehouses of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, where data indicate that out of 520 pharmaceutical items, 180 items have a zero balance, meaning they are completely unavailable.
The most affected category is cancer and tumor patients, as 50 out of 97 items provided by the Ministry of Health for this category do not have any stock, which puts thousands of patients at risk of waiting for treatment that may not arrive in time.
There are about 4,000 cancer patients and thousands of kidney patients, in addition to the postponement of 11,000 surgical operations due to the lack of sutures and medical supplies, in a crisis not only related to delayed treatment, but also to the ability of patients to continue their normal lives.
Amid these numbers, Mahmoud, who suffers from Crohn’s disease, lives a personal experience that sums up the suffering of many. He says that he was diagnosed with the disease in 2008, and that delaying the medication dose by just a day or two leads to the appearance of painful symptoms.
Mahmoud adds: “Currently, it has been two months since I have not taken my dose due to the lack of medication available at the Ministry of Health. This disease is a devastating beast. As long as you take its medication, you are doing well, but the lack of medication makes you unable to practice your normal, daily life like any other human being.”
According to data, the crisis worsened with the Israeli occupation withholding Palestinian clearance funds, which represent about 67% of the Palestinian Authority’s revenues, which led to the accumulation of debts of the Ministry of Health, which reached 1.3 billion shekels (about 348 million dollars), and caused a number of pharmaceutical companies and suppliers to stop supplying the Ministry with treatments.
While patients search for life-saving medications, many find themselves in a cycle of waiting and anxiety. The patient is not looking for luxury or additional treatment, but rather for a basic right that preserves his ability to continue.
In the West Bank, the causes of Palestinian suffering are multiple, from bombing, siege, and economic crises, but for many patients, the absence of medicine opens another front of pain. A front they wage every day in the face of illness and waiting.
