Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP via Getty Images
Op-ed by Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF,) published in Al Jazeera as the genocide in Gaza surpasses 1,000 days, arguing that the Israeli occupation is the primary determinant of poor health outcomes for Palestinians across the OPT, framing occupation itself as the central public health crisis rather than a background condition for other health challenges. Drawing on MSF's operational experience across the OPT, Dr. Abdelmoneim makes a political argument for centering accountability for the occupying power in any analysis of Palestinian health, rather than treating health issues as technical problems separable from their political context. Recommended for public health researchers, advocates, and students as a concise and authoritative statement of the argument that occupation is the primary social determinant of Palestinian health, with the credibility of MSF's International President lending institutional weight to a political framing that challenges depoliticized humanitarian approaches.
