Palestinian Red Crescent has had difficulty with funding and importing body armor into the West Bank Attacks have seen healthcare workers targeted with live ammunition and steel-coated rubber bullets LONDON: UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians provided £18,500 ($23,900) worth of bulletproof vests and helmets in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem after attacks on healthcare workers and ambulances by Israeli forces and settlers, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported 193 incidents targeting workers and vehicles in 2023, a 310 percent increase compared to last year. Since March 2022, when the Israel Defense Forces began conducting near-nightly raids on the West Bank towns of Nablus and Jenin, violence in the region has progressively increased. Attacks have seen healthcare workers targeted with live ammunition and steel-coated rubber bullets, both before and as they administered treatment, and have obstructed ambulances attempting to access or transfer the injured. This month’s Israeli operation in Jenin, the largest IDF operation in the West Bank in 20 years, resulted in the killings of 12 Palestinians and one Israeli. Reports cited ambulances being targeted by live fire and prevented from reaching the injured, The Guardian reported. The IDF denied that its personnel blocked Palestinian medics from performing their duties. In a statement, it said: “The IDF allows free access to medical teams throughout (the West Bank). Moreover, during counter-terrorism activities, dialogue is held with Palestinian officials, with the aim of bringing to their attention potential risks, thereby helping to prevent harm to non-combatants, among them medical teams stuck in combat areas that are subject to indiscriminate gunfire from armed terrorists.” The Palestinian Red Crescent began providing protective gear to staff and volunteers early this year but has had difficulty with funding and importing body armor into the West Bank. MAP, which generally supplies medications, equipment, and trauma training to Palestinian medical staff and paramedics, will supply an additional 20 sets of bulletproof jackets and helmets. Ahmed Jibril, the head of the emergency and ambulance department at the Red Crescent branch in Nablus, told The Guardian: “With the increasing risks faced by our teams, most recently seen in Jenin, these bulletproof vests and helmets will provide a crucial layer of protection, allowing our teams to continue saving lives and providing essential medical services in the face of adversity.” MAP Director Melanie Ward told The Guardian: “We have taken this unprecedented step in response to an urgent call from Palestinian health workers for protection from the violence they face in the line of duty. “No health worker should have to risk their life to save others.”