A day-long hospital strike was announced on Thursday in response to a series of violent attacks against hospital staff, including one at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya on Wednesday and another at Hadassah University Medical Center at Mount Scopus on Monday.
All public hospitals and health clinics will be operating on a "Sabbath and holiday" schedule skeleton crew, the Israel Medical Association announced.
The latest attack on hospital staff came on Wednesday, when, upon learning of the death of their loved one — a 28-year-old motorcyclist from Abu Sanan — dozens of family members of the deceased tried to forcibly burst into the trauma center of the Galilee Medical Center.
Family members beat security personnel at the scene, in addition to other people who happened to be in their way.
Following the incident, a police force was dispatched to the scene. "The security guards, who felt they were in a life-threatening situation, were forced to use pepper spray to get the rioters out of the emergency room. Following the incident, several security personnel were lightly injured," the hospital said.
"It was horrible. They tried to break out by force and trampled everyone standing next to them. We clearly felt that our lives were in danger, and what was important to us was that they get out of the emergency room quickly," one of the security guards who witnessed the incident told N12 news.
"It lasted about 20 minutes but felt like an eternity," the guard said. "This time it ended relatively well, but the writing is on the wall. Recently, our security guards were severely attacked and their attackers received a ridiculous sentence of probation and a petty fine. Unfortunately, there is no deterrent."
A similar incident of violence took place on Monday at Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, when doctors announced the death of a patient and dozens of his family members beat staff personnel.
The family members continued raging and rioting in the intensive care unit where their relative had died, breaking doors and windows and destroying equipment.