For over five decades, ever since Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip of Palestine, Palestinian people have experienced continued and repeated traumas. Humanitarian needs across Palestine are mounting due to widespread unemployment, economic decline and the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the West Bank, systematic repression and discrimination by Israeli authorities against Palestinians continue, with home demolitions, forced relocations and violence by Israeli settlers on the rise.

For many people, such experiences have long-term consequences, particularly when they come on top of pre-existing trauma from previous episodes of violence and life under occupation and blockade.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides mental health services to people with moderate or severe psychological issues and psychiatric disorders in the West Bank and Gaza. Our services include a response to mental health issues which are a specific result of violence in the West Bank.

Photographer Alfredo Cáliz travelled across the occupied West Bank to document the toll of living under occupation. His photos were originally published in Spanish newspaper El País Semanal.