Medical neutrality and structural competency in conflict zones: Israeli healthcare professionals’ reaction to political violence

Abstract

This article explores the meaning, manifestations, and ramifications of medical neutrality in conflict zones. We analyse how Israeli healthcare institutions and leaders responded to the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in May 2021 and how they represented the role of the healthcare system in society and during conflict. Based on content analysis of documents, we found that healthcare institutions and leaders called for cessation of violence between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel, describing the Israeli healthcare system as a neutral space of coexistence. However, they largely overlooked the military campaign that was simultaneously taking place between Israel and Gaza, which was considered a controversial and ‘political’ issue. This depoliticised standpoint and boundary work enabled a limited acknowledgement of violence, while disregarding the larger causes of conflict. We suggest that a structurally competent medicine must explicitly recognise political conflict as a determinant of health. Healthcare professionals should be trained in structural competency to challenge the depoliticising effects of medical neutrality, with the aim of enhancing peace, health equity, and social justice. Concomitantly, the conceptual framework of structural competency should be broadened to include conflict-related issues and address the needs of the victims of severe structural violence in conflict areas.

Keywords

• structural competency
• conflict
• medical neutrality
• depoliticisation
• israel/palestine