Still No Well-Baby Clinics in East Jerusalem Beyond the Separation Barrier
- ACRI
- Jun 28
- 3 min read
On November 11, 2021, ACRI, together with a group of mothers who are residents of Jerusalem, filed a petition with the Supreme Court demanding that the State be required to establish well-baby clinics (Tipat Halav) in the neighborhoods located beyond the separation barrier. It had been fifteen years since the State pledged to establish two well-baby clinics in the neighborhoods beyond the barrier, yet residents of the Shuafat Refugee Camp and the adjacent neighborhoods continued to spend hours traveling and crossing a checkpoint in order to receive this essential service.
Tens of thousands of Israeli residents live in the neighborhoods of northeastern Jerusalem located beyond the separation barrier. While the distribution of well-baby clinics throughout the rest of the city ensures easy and convenient access, these neighborhoods do not include a single well-baby clinic operated by the Jerusalem Municipality and supervised by the Ministry of Health.
The petition argued that well-baby clinic services are essential to the health, development, and well-being of infants, toddlers, children, and mothers, and that the rationale underlying the establishment of these clinics is to provide an available and accessible service within the community, close to residents’ homes. The existing situation infringes on the rights of residents of the neighborhoods beyond the barrier to equality, health, and access to healthcare services.
A hearing was held on April 25, 2022, during which the Ministry of Health informed the Court that a tender for the establishment of a well-baby clinic in the neighborhoods beyond the barrier would be completed within three months. The Court ordered the State to submit an update by September 5, 2022. Additional updates were subsequently submitted regarding tenders that had been issued and later disqualified. Even when a provider was finally selected to establish and operate a well-baby clinic—three years after the petition had been filed—it failed to meet the conditions set by the Ministry, and it was disqualified.
In November 2025, the State submitted another update showing that no progress had been made and that, in effect, the situation remained unchanged from when the petition was first filed in 2021. Consequently, following a hearing held on November 17, 2025, the Supreme Court issued an order nisi directing the State and the municipality to explain why two well-baby clinics should not be established in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the barrier, staffed with adequate personnel and operating in accordance with accepted standards. The order nisi stipulated that a solution for providing well-baby clinic services in these neighborhoods, even if only temporary, must begin operating no later than May 17, 2026.
During the months that followed, the State periodically updated the Court regarding efforts to identify and implement a temporary solution, but no meaningful progress was achieved. In June 2026, after the deadline set by the Supreme Court had passed, the State submitted another update, similar to its previous ones, reporting purported progress and stating its intention to contract with a provider to deliver the services. A hearing on the petition is scheduled for July 29, 2026.
Supreme Court Petition 7566/21 Alhusseini v. Head of Public Health Services, Ministry of Health
Attorney: Tal Hassin
For a full list of legal correspondence and articles about this case (all in Hebrew), see here.
The petition was submitted with the help of ACRI fieldworker Muhannad Anati
