Although it is located within municipal Jerusalem, Shu‘fat refugee camp in northern Jerusalem has been severed from the city by the Separation Wall since 2002. Residents can only access the city by a single military checkpoint (see Closure and Access to Jerusalem). For women in the camp, this means they can’t readily access any health care, let alone preventative care for breast cancer. To address this gap, Jerusalem’s renowned Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH, referred to as al-Muttala‘ Hospital in Arabic) on the Mount of Olives launched a Mobile Breast Cancer Clinic in 2009.

Jerusalem Story accompanied the mobile clinic’s team out to the camp on Tuesday, December 17, 2025. The clinic parked in front of the Zghayer Medical Center, which is affiliated with the Kupat Holim Clalit, an Israeli state health service organization. The center lies beyond the Separation Wall, which has severed the camp from the center of Jerusalem since 2002. Thus, even just reaching the designated location for the clinic was not easy.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) established the camp in 1965 to house Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Nakba (see Neighborhoods beyond the Wall).

That day, the weather was rainy, and due to the camp’s poor infrastructure, drivers had to avoid deep potholes in the streets and sometimes stop to make way for pedestrians because of heavy crowding in the streets.

The medical center sits on a small side street in the camp that is not far from the Shu‘fat checkpoint that all residents must pass through to exit the camp. The mobile clinic offers mammograms for female camp residents aged between 50 and 75 who have health insurance.

From the early morning hours and despite the heavy rain, the mobile clinic drew a strong turnout from the camp’s women. When we asked why they had come, they all replied: “Doing this test inside the camp is much easier than leaving it to go to clinics in the city center, because crossing the military checkpoint is not easy.”1

On a narrow worn-down street lined with tall buildings, the women walked from within the camp to the center at its edge.

The first woman to arrive was Qanoo al-Mutawar, 64, who expressed her amazement as soon as she saw a truck where breast cancer screening was being conducted.

“I thought I would be doing the exam in a room, not a truck—this is somewhat strange,” al-Mutawar told Jerusalem Story. “But I’m very happy about it, because leaving the camp is extremely difficult. I’m elderly and can’t stand for long periods or cross the checkpoint on foot.”2

With a smile that never left her face throughout the conversation, Hanan Diab, 53, also spoke about her experience with breast cancer and her reason for returning to the mobile clinic for another mammogram.

She began by recalling events from five years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and referred to AVH for treatment. There, she underwent three chemotherapy sessions followed by surgery to remove the tumor and lymph nodes, and then 35 radiation therapy sessions.

She still visits the hospital for follow-up appointments and periodic tests, but she found the mobile clinic extremely beneficial, because she had been unable to reach the hospital since the war began in Gaza on October 7, 2023, due to checkpoint closures and other measures reducing mobility for camp residents since then.

“The moment I saw the team, I felt like I was among my family. I have never encountered doctors, nurses, and staff who treat patients with such humanity as the staff of Augusta Victoria,”3 Diab said. “They really did bring hope to the camp and to its women upon their arrival.”

Diab’s husband is originally from the village of Deir Ayyub, southeast of the city of Ramla, whose residents were displaced after the 1948 Nakba. Diab is from the city of Jaffa, also depopulated that same year. Fate brought them together, and they have lived in the Shu‘fat refugee camp for decades.

As Diab left the clinic, Kifaya Shiha, 58, arrived. She seemed the most anxious among all the women who had come for a screening. After greeting the staff, she repeated the same question to multiple women inside: “Does this test hurt?”4

Although Shiha had completed a mammogram once before, she had forgotten the details. She saw the mobile clinic as an opportunity to check on her health, as she couldn’t leave the camp due to the difficulty of crossing the military checkpoint and the long waiting times there.

She told Jerusalem Story that she sometimes feels pain in her breasts and wonders whether it could be related to breast cancer—but she had never thought of leaving the camp to undergo early detection screening.

Na‘mat Allah ‘Alyan, a nurse supervisor at the Zghayer Medical Center, explained that the mobile clinic first came to the center two years ago. During that initial visit, it received 60 women, as most camp residents struggle to leave the camp for medical services—even essential ones—because of the checkpoint.

Before the mobile clinic began offering its services at the camp, the center would contact several women to urge them to complete a screening outside of the refugee camp, which was a hurdle for many. Thus, the clinic’s offerings inside the camp have been extremely beneficial to the female community. The center usually receives results one week after the tests and follows up with women whose results show any abnormalities.

When asked about the main obstacles the Zghayer center faces as a health facility that currently operates inside the camp, ‘Alyan replied: “The hardest issues we face are the overcrowding and the traffic congestion it causes, in addition to the possibility that the Israeli army could raid the camp at any moment.”5

Inside the clinic, staff members Marjan, Amal, Ilham, and Nermin welcome the women with unwavering smiles. Responsibilities in the small space are divided smoothly and efficiently, with each member carrying out her specific task calmly, despite the challenges of work that require reaching a different area of Jerusalem or the West Bank each day.

We approached Marjan Sharif ‘Abed, the mobile clinic’s coordinator for early detection of breast cancer, while she was on the phone with a woman whose test result was abnormal. She was trying to convince her of the importance of coming in for a biopsy, though the woman was hesitant and worried that the biopsy might cause the disease to spread in her body.

‘Abed spent nearly seven minutes reassuring her, easing her fears, and explaining the correct information about the biopsy procedure and its safety.

As soon as the call ended, she plunged back into many other tasks but found a few minutes to speak with Jerusalem Story about her professional journey, which she described as filled with challenges and hope.

‘Abed has been working in the mobile clinic for 13 years, during which she has gained deep expertise in breast cancer—the pathophysiology of the disease, the related tests, its stages, and treatments. This knowledge has qualified her to deliver awareness workshops to Palestinian women throughout her year-round travels with the mobile clinic.

“I’ve gained many skills from this work, the most important of which is the ability to influence women and to interact comfortably with people of all mindsets, because I deal with the entire Palestinian community in all its diversity,”6 ‘Abed said.

‘Abed discovered that 90 percent of the assumptions that women have about breast cancer are incorrect and pessimistic, which makes them unnecessarily afraid. “I don’t blame them; at the beginning of my work, I had the same beliefs—that a cancer patient, even if treated for a long time, would eventually die. In reality, that’s not true. So it became my responsibility to dispel fear and spread hope,” she told Jerusalem Story.

When asked about the clinic’s role in saving the lives of many women through early detection, ‘Abed smiled and said the question made her happy and honored to answer: “We truly have saved many women through early detection. Many came to the clinic simply out of curiosity to learn what the test was and how it’s done; others came accompanying their neighbors.” She added, “The team convinced them to get screened, and through this clinic, they discovered the disease early.”

The clinic receives Palestinian women aged 40 and above across all governorates of the occupied West Bank, except for those living within the boundaries of Israeli-defined municipal Jerusalem (the J1 area of the Jerusalem governorate) who are insured through Israeli health funds and are required to get screened for breast cancer once they turn 50. The mobile clinic collaborates with all health funds to provide early detection tests for Palestinian Jerusalemite women.

The mobile clinic is staffed with two certified nurses who perform clinical examinations and teach women how to perform self-breast examinations, as well as two trained radiology technicians who provide high-quality, accurate examinations. Results are transferred digitally to AVH for review by a trained specialist. Based on the result, women are subsequently referred to AVH as needed.7

‘Abed feels proud of the achievements of the clinic, which has raised awareness among Palestinian society in general and women in particular about the importance of early breast cancer detection. While the clinic used to receive a maximum of 15 women per day in 2012, the daily number of screenings has now reached 60.

‘Abed concluded her conversation with Jerusalem Story by emphasizing the bright side of medical advances and treatment. She noted that her mission—along with her colleagues—is to highlight this during awareness workshops. They also bring survivors to share their experiences, many of whom have become strong advocates and supporters after their recovery. Lana Nasreddin, director of community programs at AVH, said that the Mobile Breast Cancer Unit was established in 2009 after a study was conducted on the cases reaching the hospital.8 The results showed that most women were arriving at late stages of the disease.9

The study also showed that the main reason was a lack of community awareness about the importance of early screening, in addition to limited access to mammograms, especially in marginalized areas. At the same time, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the West Bank generally (16.9 percent of all cases in 2019) and among females specifically (40 percent in 2019).10 This highlighted the need to establish the clinic to enable early detection, increase health awareness, and save women’s lives.

Nasreddin further explained that the mobile clinic reaches all parts of Palestine, with a special focus on marginalized areas that are far from health services.

The clinic offers awareness lectures about breast cancer and the importance of early detection, performs mammograms for women over 40 or as medically needed, conducts ultrasound scans when necessary, performs clinical breast exams, and refers any suspected cases to AVH for further required testing, such as ultrasound or biopsy.

Regarding the proportion of women diagnosed through the clinic and whether its staff has noticed specific geographic hotspots for the disease, Nasreddin stated that in the past year, 50 Palestinian women were diagnosed through the mobile clinic—meaning 50 Palestinian families were saved through early detection and timely treatment.

She added that it is not possible to definitively identify a specific geographic area with higher incidence rates, but that low awareness and limited health services contribute to delayed diagnoses in some areas. She also noted that in the clinic’s early years, it was very difficult to convince women to undergo early screening due to fear or social misconceptions. Today, awareness has risen significantly, though a small percentage of women still refuse the test.