Doctors in Israel staged a 24-hour warning strike on Monday, said the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) representing most doctors in the country.

The strike, attended by doctors from public hospitals and clinics throughout Israel, was announced after the recent incidents of violence by patients and family members against medical staff.

The IMA noted that only life-saving treatments and surgeries are performed during the strike.

“Violence in the healthcare system has long since become an epidemic, with red lines crossed almost every day,” said IMA Chairman Zion Hagai.

Last week, a paediatrician was beaten by a patient’s parents at Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beer Sheva, and a patient attacked a gynaecologist at a clinic in the central city of Ramla.

The strike started even though the Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov on Sunday called on the doctors to refrain from doing so.

“Violence seriously harms the health system and its employees,” Bar Siman Tov wrote in a letter to Mr Hagai, “but the shutdown measures will harm the patients and their daily routine.”

Last year, the Israeli government established police points in hospitals and initiated legislation to harden punishment.

However, the doctors are calling for significantly strengthening security in all health institutions and speeding up legislative procedures due to the recent incidents.

The IMA warned that more severe and prolonged measures would be taken if the demands were not met.

(Xinhua/NAN)