The international community’s financial boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority will likely lead to a humanitarian crisis, said Dr. Tawfiq Nasser,
CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem. Speaking in a presentation in early April to staff of Lutheran World Relief, a U.S.-based member of the global alliance of Action by Churches Together (
ACT) International, Nasser said, “The Palestinian Authority operates many activities for the people – it’s very different from other governments in that it’s actually a deliverer of services. So refusing to pay money to the Palestinian Authority is creating a major humanitarian disaster, removing the biggest provider of healthcare to the Palestinian people.” Nearly 70 percent of Palestinians are insured by the government’s health insurance program, Nasser said.
