Gisha and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel appealed to the High Court of Justice on behalf of Issam Hamdan against a District Court ruling blocking his exit from Gaza for emergency medical treatment, but the State refuses to allow him out of Gaza based on its claim that he may settle in the West Bank after treatment.

The Israel Medical Corps accepted PHR-Israel's demand to reject experiments that have not been proven to benefit the soldier population; a set of directives will ensure that participants consent of their own free will.  For example, soldiers will be allowed to take a leave at home before consenting to participate in an experiment.

The State of Israel has refused to accept responsibility for its actions, and to fund medical care for amputees, who were inadvertent victims of the IDF offensive. The State's attitude would appear to be motivated by image concerns.

PHR-Israel sent it's 7th emergency medical dispatch to the Strip last Sunday December 27th 2009 to commemorate the one year anniversary of the 23- day Israeli military offensive that raged through Gaza last winter. The dispatch, valued at 500,000 NIS, was sent as an expression of solidarity with Gaza's struggling medical community, and as a means of providing practical support to the physically and mentally injured.

New Report by PHR-Israel Exposes Long Waiting Periods for Appointments with Specialist Physicians; Wait times Vary Drastically Among Communities and Health Funds

Dr. Marton, President and founder of PHR-Israel, was invited to take part in an international conference titled "Right to Health as a Bridge to Peace in the Middle East". The conference was organized by international health organizations and held at Izmir, Turkey. Dr. Marton addressed the issue of torture in Israel and called the WMA and WHO to take practical actions to avoid doctors and health personnel compliance in torture (see link to response article in BMJ).

On July 7, Physicians for Human Rights and the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages published a report “The Bare Minimum- Health Services in the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev”.  The report establishes a comparison between primarily health clinics in the unrecognized villages and those at 5 primarily health clinics in peripheral Jewish settlements in the Negev that are similar in geography and demography to the Bedouin villages.