The executive council of the World Health Organization (WHO) approved by consensus a resolution to combat the worsening health situation in the Gaza Strip, a territory hit by the war between Israel and Hamas.
After the UN Security Council refused to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, following a US veto, the 34 countries on the WHO executive council adopted a resolution demanding the “immediate, continuous and obstacles to humanitarian aid” to Gaza.
The resolution, proposed by Afghanistan, Morocco, Qatar and Yemen, calls for granting exit authorizations to patients, providing medicine and medical supplies for civilians, and making it easier for anyone deprived of liberty to have medical care.
The resolution of the 34 member countries of the Executive Council expresses “serious concern” about the humanitarian situation and the “widespread destruction”, and calls for protection for all civilians.
Although they accepted the resolution, some Western countries expressed reservations. The representative of the United States declared that his country agreed not to oppose the consensus on the text but that he had “important reservations” as he “regrets the lack of balance in the resolution.”
For Canada, it is a “compromise resolution” that should also have denounced the role of Hamas in the conflict, the taking of hostages and “the use of human shields.”
Australia questioned that the resolution did not mention the bloody Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, which were “the catalyst for the current devastating situation.”