Morocco called, on December 10, in Geneva, for an urgent and concrete de-escalation to ensure the protection of civilians and healthcare facilities in Gaza.
Intervening at the extraordinary session of the Executive Council of the World Health Organization (WHO), Morocco’s Permanent Representative in Geneva, Omar Zniber, stressed the need to ensure the smooth delivery of humanitarian aid and medical equipment to the populations of Gaza.
The Moroccan diplomat noted that the WHO is responsible for maintaining this leading role, for the days and months to come, to mitigate the devastating effects of the war in the Gaza Strip, especially by mobilizing the necessary resources to meet immediate health care needs and ensuring the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the health system in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly Gaza.
In this regard, Zniber noted that coordination with international humanitarian aid and development actors is crucial to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people and to guarantee the allocation of human and financial resources. This involves strengthening partnerships with UN agencies like the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and its partners, added Zniber.
“Bearing in mind the obligation of respecting and ensuring respect, in all circumstances, for international humanitarian law, we all find ourselves at a decisive turning point which requires firmness and responsibility from all to put an end to Israeli aggressions,” concluded the Moroccan official.
This special session is being held in the context of severe social, economic, and health emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip, after long weeks of armed clashes that resulted in the death and injury of thousands among the defenseless civilian population, and the destruction of infrastructure and healthcare facilities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
