Smoke rises during an Israeli strike in Gaza, December 10, 2023. /CFP
A senior Chinese diplomat on Sunday called for a truce in Gaza and a response to the health crisis unfolding there, stressing that the fundamental way out of the conflict lies in the two-state solution.
Chen Xu, head of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations (UN) Office in Geneva, said China, gravely concerned about the renewed violence in the Gaza Strip, calls on concerned parties to exercise restraint, provide opportunities for peace and grant people peace and stability, at a special session organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board on the health situation in the Palestinian territory.
The Chinese ambassador said that it is of paramount importance to resolve the health crisis, saying all parties should spare no effort to ensure the safety of medical personnel and health facilities. They should support the WHO and other humanitarian agencies in providing urgently needed medicine and medical equipment in Gaza, and in treating and transferring the injured.
He said it is necessary to support Palestine in rebuilding medical infrastructure and the development of its public health.
Chen also stressed that the two-state solution is the fundamental way out of the present crisis. He said the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks should be promptly restarted, the two-state solution should be concretely and fully delivered, and the rights of the Palestinian people to statehood, to existence and to return should be realized as soon as possible.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledged on Sunday not to give up on pushing for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza at the opening ceremony of the 21st Doha Forum in Qatar, despite the United States vetoed a draft resolution in the UN Security Council aimed at promoting a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
"Regrettably the Security Council failed to do it but that does not make it less necessary. So, I can promise I will not give up," he said.
A doctor is seen at the Yaffa Hospital, which is severely damaged in Israeli attacks in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, December 8, 2023. /CFP
Urgent humanitarian aid
The WHO Executive Board adopted a resolution on Sunday, calling for prompt and unobstructed humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.
In his opening remarks, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that "the impact of the conflict on health is catastrophic" and "Gaza's health system is on its knees and collapsing."
According to the WHO, only 14 hospitals out of the original 36 are partially functional, including two in the north of the Wadi Gaza and 12 in the south.
In accordance with international law, healthcare facilities are designated for protection during conflicts. However, Tedros said that since October 7, the WHO has verified more than 449 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza and the West Bank, and 60 attacks on healthcare facilities in Israel.
Tedros emphasized that a ceasefire is crucial for safeguarding and enhancing the health of the people in Gaza.
Israeli tanks battled their way to the heart of Khan Younis on Sunday in a major new push into the main city of the southern Gaza Strip, as health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said about 18,000 Palestinians had been killed in the conflict.
(With input from agencies)