TEL AVIV (Dispatches) -- A 
staggering brain drain is gripping the occupied Palestinian territories as political instability, perpetual war, and deepening social turmoil drive hundreds of doctors and thousands of settlers to flee.
New research from Tel Aviv University has found that approximately 1,370 doctors left the occupied territories between 2023 and 2025, nearly double the 705 who departed between 2013 and 2015. 
The exodus includes 416 departures in 2023, followed by 530 in 2024, and an initial projection of 419 for 2025. 
The total number of departures over these three years exceeds the entire medical staff of major hospitals such as Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Soroka Medical Center, or Shamir Medical Center.
Despite the return of some physicians who had previously worked abroad, the net loss amounted to 509 doctors from 2023 to 2024. This yearly net loss of around 255 doctors is nearly five times greater than the average annual net loss of 54 doctors observed between 2010 and 2019.
More alarming is the departure of experienced veterans. More than 20 percent of those who moved between 2023 and 2025 were aged 45 or older, totaling 281 experienced doctors. A decade ago, senior physicians constituted merely 14 percent of those leaving. 
Pediatricians, ophthalmologists, dermatologists, and ENT specialists are fleeing in the highest numbers, with 6.2 percent of Israeli practitioners in these fields having exited the territories. 
Surgeons accounted for 6 percent, while intensive care and emergency physicians represented 4.7 percent.
Professor Itai Ater warned: “All of us have family members waiting for surgery or other medical care. The departure of nearly 1,400 doctors translates directly into longer wait times, less effective medical care, and ultimately severe harm to our quality of life.”
The doctor exodus is part of a broader reverse migration crisis. Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics reveals that during 2024 and 2025, almost 50,000 more individuals left the occupied territories than those who arrived to live there. 
According to Sergio Della Pergola, a prominent expert on Jewish demographics, there have only been specific times during the 1950s and 1980s when the number of Jews immigrating to the occupied lands exceeded the number departing.
The Tel Aviv district experienced the most significant decrease, losing 429 doctors representing 7.4 percent of its physicians under age 60. This was followed by the central district losing 290 doctors, Haifa with 190, occupied Al-Quds with 132, and the southern region with 125.
Historically, Israel’s emigration was characterized by the quest for improved economic prospects overseas. However, a considerable number of those departing currently cite discontent with the ruling regime as the primary reason for their choices. 
Permanent wars, political instability, and a state of confusion are driving settlers to abandon the occupied territories in numbers not seen in decades, raising serious questions about the sustainability of the occupation and the future of the illegal settlement enterprise.