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

摘要

This article explores the meaning, manifestations, and ramifications ofmedical neutrality in conflict zones. We analyse how Israeli healthcareinstitutions and leaders responded to the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in May 2021 and how they represented the role ofthe healthcare system in society and during conflict. Based on contentanalysis of documents, we found that healthcare institutions andleaders called for cessation of violence between Jewish and Palestiniancitizens of Israel, describing the Israeli healthcare system as a neutralspace of coexistence. However, they largely overlooked the militarycampaign that was simultaneously taking place between Israel andGaza, which was considered a controversial and ‘political’ issue. Thisdepoliticised standpoint and boundary work enabled a limitedacknowledgement of violence, while disregarding the larger causes ofconflict. We suggest that a structurally competent medicine mustexplicitly recognise political conflict as a determinant of health.Healthcare professionals should be trained in structural competency tochallenge the depoliticising effects of medical neutrality, with the aimof enhancing peace, health equity, and social justice. Concomitantly,the conceptual framework of structural competency should bebroadened to include conflict-related issues and address the needs ofthe victims of severe structural violence in conflict areas.