In a special emergency session held on Sunday in Geneva, the
Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a resolution by
consensus, aimed at addressing the catastrophic humanitarian
situation in the Gaza Strip.
This is the first time since 7 October that a resolution on this
conflict has been adopted by consensus within the UN system, the
UN health agency noted. It underscores the importance of health
as a universal priority, in all circumstances, and the role of
healthcare and humanitarianism in building bridges to peace, even
in the most difficult of situations.
The resolution calls for “immediate, sustained and unimpeded
passage of humanitarian relief, including the access of medical
personnel.”
It calls on “all parties to fulfill their obligations under
international law…and reaffirms that all parties to armed
conflict must comply fully with the obligations applicable to
them under international humanitarian law related to the
protection of civilians in armed conflict and medical personnel.”
The resolution also commends WHO and health cluster
partners in the field for remaining and delivering.
The Executive Board of WHO consists of 34 people all qualified in
the health field, each one designated by a Member State that has
been elected to serve by the World Health Assembly.
On Saturday, amid what WHO described as extremely difficult
circumstances, the health agency and partners working on the
ground in Gaza delivered supplies for up to 1,500 patients and
transferred patients from the Al-Ahli Hospital in the north to a
facility in the south.
Attacks on healthcare must stop
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his opening
remarks that he deplored “the barbaric and unjustifiable
attacks by Hamas on Israel of 7 October, which killed more than
1,200 people, and added that he was “appalled by reports of
gender-based violence during the attacks, and by the mistreatment
of hostages.”
He expressed relief that 114 hostages have been released and
repeated his call for them all to be freed.
“I well understand the anger, grief and fear of the Israeli
people following the horrific attacks two months ago”, Tedros
said.
“I also understand the anger, grief and fear of the people of
Gaza, who had already suffered through 16 years of blockade, and
are now enduring the destruction of their families, their homes,
their communities and the life they knew.
Since the 7th of October, WHO has verified more than
449 attacks on healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank, and 60
attacks on healthcare in Israel, he said, adding that
“healthcare should never be a target.”
“I also grieve the loss of more than 100 of our UN colleagues in
Gaza, including our own Dima Alhaj, who was
killed alongside her six-month old son, her husband and her two
brothers.”
The resolution calls on Tedros to report on the public health
implications of the crisis; strengthen technical and material
assistance, and to strengthen partnerships with other care
providers.
“But I must be frank with you: these tasks are almost impossible
in the current circumstances”, he lamented.
He applauded the UN chief’s invocation of the powerful emergency
tool Article 99 last week, and António Guterres’s call for a
humanitarian ceasefire, saying it was “the only way to truly
protect and promote the health of the people of Gaza.”
Tedros expressed deep regret that the Security Council was
unable to adopt a resolution on such a ceasefire last Friday.
Resolution ‘a starting point’
He said despite “difficult” negotiations over the Executive
Board’s text, he appreciated the spirit of cooperation and
compromise on the part of board members to reach consensus on the
resolution.
In remarks delivered throughout the day, many Member States
offered sympathies for the loss of life of civilians, as well as
health workers and UN employees.
In his closing remarks, WHO
chief Tedros said the adoption of the resolution was a starting
point. “It does not resolve the crisis. But it is a
platform on which to build.”
He added that “without a ceasefire, there is no peace. And
without peace, there is no health. I urge all Member States,
especially those with the most influence, to work with urgency to
bring an end to this conflict as soon as possible.”
In a statement released in response to the resolution, Israel’s
Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, deplored the
lack of reference to hostages in the text.
The resolution also fails to condemn “Hamas terrorism” or the
group’s use of human shields, she said, branding the text a
“complete moral failure for the international community.”
