GENEVA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Tedros made this call at an annual press conference organized by the Association of Accredited Correspondents to the United Nations in Geneva.
The Director-General described as “significant” the resolution adopted at the special session of the WHO Executive Board on the health situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, which calls for the immediate, sustained and unhindered flow of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, including medical personnel.
The resolution also calls on Tedros to continue reporting on the impact of the crisis on public health, assess the impact of the crisis on mental health, increase technical and material assistance, and strengthen the health authority's work with its partners.
However, these tasks are almost impossible under the current circumstances, noted Tedros. “The only real remedy is an immediate ceasefire,” he added.
According to the WHO director, more than 1,200 attacks on health workers, patients, hospitals, clinics and ambulances have been documented in 19 countries this year, leaving nearly 700 people dead and more than 1,100 injured.
Tedros condemned attacks on health as a violation of international humanitarian law and said health should never be a target.
More than 18,700 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing Gaza conflict since October 7, 70 percent of them women and children, Gaza's Health Ministry reported Thursday. End