WEST BANK, The Occupied Palestinian Territory – “Even during labour, I was afraid. I could hear sirens and kept thinking about my children,” said Haneen*, from the village of Ras Tira in the occupied West Bank. “Life here is not easy – especially with the recent tensions.”
Haneen, 34, is a mother of four girls and two boys – the oldest is 10 and the youngest is just six weeks old.
“Living near the wall and settlements makes everything more stressful. I was so worried that I left the hospital just an hour after giving birth, to return home and be with my children during the alerts,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, which is the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency.
She explained that during her earlier pregnancies, she visited a doctor in the nearby city of Qalqilya, but each visit was exhausting and expensive. “I needed someone to accompany me, I had to arrange private transportation and pay for consultations, medications and tests – it was around 200 shekels [US $65] each time, not including transport.
Sometimes we would wait for hours, only to have appointments cancelled because doctors couldn’t reach the city.”
The situation in the West Bank is deeply unstable, with ongoing Israeli military operations, surging settler violence and sweeping movement restrictions. In 2025, nearly 4,000 Palestinians were injured and more than 37,000 displaced.
Women run a gauntlet of fear to access essential services – navigating armed roadblocks, checkpoints, curfews and constant insecurity, delays and and obstructions that can be particularly life-threatening for pregnant women and newborns.
“Sometimes we would wait for hours, only to have appointments cancelled because doctors couldn’t reach the city.”
For Haneen, everything changed when she was able to visit a UNFPA-supported mobile health clinic during her last two pregnancies. “The clinic came directly to our village. I received full check-ups from a gynaecologist, along with supplements and referrals for any tests I needed.
“It saved me time, money and stress. My pregnancies with Maryam and Ghassan were much easier because of this care.”
Sending support where it’s needed most
With funding from the Government of Japan, UNFPA supports six mobile health clinics across the territory, four of which are operated by the Palestine Medical Relief Society and are composed of midwives, doctors specialized in women’s health, counsellors and community health workers. The teams reach displaced and hard-to-reach communities with sexual and reproductive health services, including emergency obstetric and prenatal care and screenings for breast cancer.
Many of these communities are in Area C, where people are subjected to severe movement restrictions, settler violence and constraints on health services.
“For me, the mobile clinic is not just about medical services – it’s about feeling supported, safe and cared for in a very difficult environment,” said Haneen.
UNFPA also deploys midwives to 10 safe motherhood centres, established specifically to mitigate movement restrictions and which bring care closer to pregnant women experiencing complications. Between January and March 2026, these centres reached over 3,700 women.
“For me, the mobile clinic is not just about medical services – it’s about feeling supported, safe and cared for in a very difficult environment.”
“What truly makes a difference is how the teams treat us,” explained Haneen. “After giving birth, they planned to visit me at home, but I went to the clinic instead because I felt I might be troubling them. They welcomed me warmly, brought me a chair to rest, checked on my baby, and treated me with such kindness.
“Those small gestures mean everything.”
Supporting an underserved healthcare system
The health system remains critically overstretched: Fewer than two thirds of facilities in the West Bank are even partially operational, with most only functioning one day per week. Ambulance and health workers face frequent delays, obstruction and physical assault.
In remote communities such as Masafer Yatta in the south, the challenges are even more acute: With no clinics or female doctors nearby, women can wait months for care.
“I fear that when labour begins, I may not find a safe way to reach a hospital” – Marah
“Since the beginning of my pregnancy, I have struggled to access any healthcare,” said Marah*, who is four months pregnant. “The roads are unsafe and can be closed at any moment. [...] Even routine check-ups, which are a basic right for every pregnant woman, have become difficult to obtain.
“The thought of giving birth worries me the most. I fear that when labour begins, I may not find a safe way to reach a hospital.”
Marah was visited by a UNFPA-supported mobile health team, which offered antenatal advice and support. “These visits, though simple, make a huge difference in my life. They remind me that there are still people striving to protect and support us, even in the most difficult circumstances.”
The teams provide full sexual and reproductive healthcare, including access to gender-based violence response and protection services. In addition to deploying midwives and mobile teams, UNFPA provides medical essentials, pharmaceuticals and other supplies to support clinics across the territory, as well as two hospitals in Jenin and Tulkaram.
*Names changed for privacy and protection
