JEDDAH,13 DEC /DNA/ – Members of the ministerial committee commissioned by the joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit under the chairmanship of His Highness Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Bin Abdullah, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday 12 December 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland, met the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Mr Tedros Adhanom. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine H.E. Mr Riyad al-Maliki, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Mrs Retno Marsudi, and the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Mr Hissein Brahim Taha.
During the meeting, discussions centered around the rapid and grave developments in the Gaza Strip, the military escalation against defenseless civilians, and the importance of an immediate ceasefire in order to guarantee the return of security and stability to the Gaza Strip.
The Committee members discussed with the WHO Director-General the systematic destruction of the health sector in Gaza, which is no longer able to provide care to the injured and the ill. They also discussed the critical health situation in the Strip and the spread of epidemics resulting from the violations by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people by denying them food, water, and medicine. They called for urgent action by all international organizations, including WHO, to stop the deterioration of the health situation in the Gaza Strip and affected regions.
The ministerial committee members renewed their demand to the international community to take all serious and urgent steps to guarantee that safe humanitarian corridors are secured for the delivery of urgent humanitarian, food, and medical aid to the Gaza Strip, for evacuation of the wounded and the ill for treatment, for allowing international organizations to carry out their functions without hindrance and provide full protection for them.
