9/12/2023–|Last updated: 12/9/202309:53 AM (Mecca time)
The World Food Program said that it has become impossible to deliver aid to the hungry in the Gaza Strip as Israel escalates its aggression. On Friday, 17 countries submitted a draft resolution to the World Health Organization demanding that Israel fully respect its obligations to protect medical and humanitarian personnel in the Strip.
“With the collapse of law and order, any meaningful humanitarian operation has become impossible,” Karl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Programme, said in a statement after a visit to the sector on Friday.
“With the arrival of a very small portion of the necessary food supplies, the stark absence of fuel, the disruption of communications systems, and the lack of security for our staff or the people we serve in food distribution (centres), we cannot do our work,” he added.
During the truce that collapsed last week, the UN program demonstrated its ability to deliver aid if conditions were right, and Skaw called for a “humanitarian truce.”
He added, “We have food on board the trucks, but we need more than one crossing. Once the trucks are in, we need a free and safe passage to reach the Palestinians wherever they are.”
Humanitarian obligations
A draft resolution submitted Friday to the World Health Organization by 17 member states and Palestine with special status calls on Israel to fully respect its obligations to protect medical and humanitarian personnel in the Gaza Strip.
The text is scheduled to be considered tomorrow, Sunday, during a special session of the Executive Council of the World Health Organization, which will be held to discuss “the health situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.” The draft resolution was submitted by Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, China, Egypt, the Emirates, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen.
The draft resolution stated: “The Executive Council expresses its deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, especially regarding the military operations in the Gaza Strip.”
The text expresses concern about “the blockade being imposed” and the extent of “the significant damage to the public health sector.” He also talks about the risks that could be posed to public health by the presence of “thousands of victims still buried under the rubble,” as well as the poor hygiene conditions and overcrowded shelters.
Israel has imposed a comprehensive siege on the Gaza Strip since October 9. It launched an aggression against the Gaza Strip that led to the death of more than 17,000 people, 70% of whom were women and children.
The draft resolution calls on the “occupying authority” to ensure the respect and protection of all medical and humanitarian workers whose activities are limited to medicine, their means of transportation and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities.
It also calls on the occupying authority to facilitate uninterrupted, orderly, free, safe and unhindered passage for medical and humanitarian workers.
It also calls on the international community to mobilize sufficient funding to meet the immediate and future needs of WHO health programs and to rebuild the Palestinian health system, in close cooperation with the World Health Organization and specialized institutions of the United Nations.
The Executive Council of the World Health Organization includes 34 member states elected for a three-year term from each of the organization’s regions. It plays an extremely important role in implementing World Health Assembly resolutions.
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2023-12-09 06:25:45
