21 MAY 2026
Chair, Director-General, Excellencies,
It is a profound tragedy that this Assembly must once again address the destruction of health and human life in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Since October 2023, more than 72,000 people have been killed and 182,000 injured. In 2025 alone, nearly 26,000 additional deaths were reported.
Even after the ceasefire of October 2025, civilians continued to die, health services remained disrupted, and humanitarian access remained constrained.
Today, no hospital in Gaza is fully functional. In the north, none are functioning at all. More than half of essential medicines are out of stock. Thousands of patients still require urgent medical evacuation.
Infectious diseases continue to spread in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Mental health needs are overwhelming. Maternal and neonatal risks are rising sharply.
In the West Bank, escalating violence and movement restrictions continue to worsen the situation. The Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis has severely limited health care, with public hospitals providing only emergency services.
In 2025, one in every three verified attacks on health care worldwide occurred in the occupied Palestinian territory. Health workers, patients, ambulances and hospitals must never be targets.
WHO and partners continue to operate under extraordinarily difficult conditions. WHO appealed for US$648 million for the 2025 health response, yet more than 75% remained unfunded.
Despite these constraints, WHO supported delivery of more than 4,000 metric tonnes of emergency medical supplies into Gaza and facilitated fuel deliveries that kept the health system functioning. In the West Bank, WHO continued to expand trauma and emergency care.
But humanitarian operations cannot be sustained on political statements alone.
We call for the protection of health care; sustained humanitarian access; the removal of restrictions delaying essential medical supplies and emergency medical teams; continued international support to restore and expand health services and reduce reliance on medical evacuations; and the reopening of referral routes from the West Bank.
Palestinians need more than expressions of concern. They need protection, access, recovery and peace.
