The WHO demands Israel in a resolution for unhindered access for health workers to Gaza

He Executive Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO), formed by 34 countries, including the US and Chinahas adopted a resolution that demands Israel’s “sustained, orderly, safe and unhindered passage” of health personnel to Gaza, due to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the strip.

The resolution has been approved unanimously after an extraordinary session dedicated to the health situation in the Palestinian territories, in a committee that also currently includes Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, France, Switzerland and Japan, among others.

The document had been proposed by Morocco, Afghanistan, Yemen and Qatar, the latter country in charge of presiding over today’s session, which took place throughout the day with interventions from the different member states of the WHO, and included the participation of the minister of Palestinian Health, Mai al Kaila.

“We have achieved something that Member States have not achieved in other forumsthe first resolution adopted by consensus since the conflict began two months ago,” said the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the end of the extraordinary session.

The agreement also calls for allowing the passage of ambulances, medical evacuations of injured and ill patients in critical condition and demands “ensure the respect and protection of all health and humanitarian personnel“, after more than 500 attacks on the health network in the West Bank and Gaza have been reported since October.

It also highlights that Israel, as an occupying power, “must respect the right to health of all people who are in the occupied Palestinian territory”, which means facilitating unrestricted humanitarian relief and, if necessary, granting exit permits. to patients needing treatment outside Gaza.

The resolution calls on the WHO, on the other hand, to urgently hold a donor conference before the next World Health Assembly in 2024, in order to finance the health needs of the Palestinian territories and rebuild their damaged territory. healthcare system.

Criticism of Israel

As soon as the resolution was approved, the resolution has been criticized by Israeli diplomacy, which in a statement has assured that it “sends the signal to terrorists that the world will look the other way if they kidnap innocent children and women, use local populations as human shields and use hospitals as headquarters for terrorism.

“A WHO resolution that does not refer to the hostages and their health situation, that does not condemn Hamas for terrorism or use of human shields, is a complete moral failure of the international community,” the Israeli ambassador to the UN said in the statement. UN in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, who participated in the session.