<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The\u00a0event\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe destruction of the health system in Palestine: A lifeline in peril for women and girls\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>was held on the margins of the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) and was convened virtually, on 20 March 2025, under the auspices of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP). Member States participated in the 90-minute event, which was also livestreamed on UN WebTV. The recording of the event is available on the Committee\u2019s website- https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mr.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>Sofian Akmal Abd. Karim<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0<\/span>Deputy Permanent Representative of Malaysia\u00a0<\/span>to the United Nations,\u00a0moderated the event, which\u00a0opened with remarks\u00a0by the Moderator and\u00a0remarks\u00a0by\u00a0<\/span>H.E. Ms.\u00a0Feda Abdelhady\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Deputy\u00a0Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations.\u00a0Panellists\u00a0included\u00a0<\/span>Dr.\u00a0Tlaleng\u00a0Mofokeng,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health; <\/span>Dr. Mimi Syed<\/span><\/b>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Emergency Medicine Physician in Gaza;\u00a0<\/span>Dr. Adlah Sukkar<\/span><\/b>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Pulmonologist and Critical Care Physician<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>with Doctors Against Genocide;\u00a0and a video testimonial from Gaza by\u00a0<\/span>Ms. Zaynab Al-Ghunaimi<\/span><\/b>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Director General<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Palestinian Center for Legal Research, Consulting and Protection for Women.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During\u00a0the opening,\u00a0<\/span>Mr.\u00a0Abd. Karim\u00a0<\/span><\/b>stated\u00a0that\u00a0<\/span>the Committee\u2019s annual event on the margin of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), offered\u00a0a unique opportunity for Committee Members and Observers and the public at large to assess the impact on women of Israeli unlawful policies and practices since the 1948 Nakba to the present day throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem.<\/span>\u202fSince 7 October 2023, Palestinians in Gaza have endured the most brutal and unprecedented levels of violence, resulting in over 61,000 Palestinian deaths, 70% of them women and children, he noted. Attacks and destruction of hospitals and limited access to healthcare had the biggest negative impact on pregnant and nursing women.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ambassador Feda Abdelhady\u00a0<\/span><\/b>noted\u00a0that\u00a0Palestinian\u00a0women\u00a0had\u00a0suffered\u00a0from misery and injustice\u00a0for decades\u00a0caused by\u00a0Israeli violence, an apartheid regime, constant military\u00a0aggression\u00a0and the ongoing Nakba\u00a0against the Palestinian people.\u00a0At least 12,410 women have been killed by Israeli forces\u00a0in the last 15 months.\u00a0While\u00a0the Israeli siege prevented\u00a0international investigations and reporting,\u00a0what was already known about\u00a0the current situation\u00a0was harrowing, with studies\u00a0showing that the life expectancy in Gaza\u00a0has\u00a0decreased by 30 years.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Women faced the humiliation of going through menstruation and childbirth without hygiene supplies, water, sanitation or privacy. She added that Israel weaponized the civilians\u2019 access to food and water to engineer a man-made starvation, increasing the vulnerability of women and their babies to malnutrition, illness and death. Those countless violations by Israeli forces and authorities constituted war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide. Ambassador Abdelhady then read emotional testimonies of women in Gaza, who shared their experiences of the war, the losses suffered and the trauma caused to their families, including by the loss of infants to hypothermia and preventable diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n Ms.\u00a0Tlaleng\u00a0Mofokeng,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, expressed her shock\u00a0over the\u00a0renewed\u00a0Israeli\u00a0attacks on Gaza. The horror of genocide in Gaza\u00a0had\u00a0also\u00a0spread in the West Bank. Palestinians, especially in Gaza,\u00a0must be\u00a0supported by a global solidarity movement\u00a0to end the\u00a0decade-long\u00a0systemic\u00a0and sustained\u00a0imperialist violence that they faced\u00a0every day.\u00a0She added that\u00a0an accurate\u00a0assessment of the implementation of the\u00a0Beijing +30\u00a0Platform for Action,\u00a0the achievement of gender equality and the realization of the 2030\u00a0Agenda\u00a0would be incomplete without\u00a0this spotlight on the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She recalled that the destruction of health\u00a0institutions disproportionately\u00a0impacted\u00a0girls and women, adding that medical staff had\u00a0been repeatedly\u00a0harassed and arrested\u00a0and targeted, while medical infrastructures\u00a0and supplies\u00a0had\u00a0been irreparably damaged.\u00a0This situation of genocide had\u00a0also\u00a0worsened the\u00a0violations\u00a0of\u00a0sexual and reproductive health rights, with\u00a0many\u00a0reported\u00a0cases of\u00a0physical and\u00a0sexual assaults\u00a0against medical\u00a0personnel\u00a0in hospitals.\u00a0Pregnant women did\u00a0not have access to\u00a0adequate nutrition and healthcare, putting\u00a0not only\u00a0their lives at risk but also\u00a0that of\u00a0their babies and the fetuses they carried.<\/span><\/p>\n The health consequences of racism, as well as the experience of colonialism and genocide, will have an impact on Palestinians for generations to come. <\/span>The international community cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity. She highlighted further that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of the continued presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which stated that Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory is illegal and must end.<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Mimi Syed<\/span><\/b> shared her experience of working as an Emergency<\/span> Medicine Physician in Gaza in September and December of 2024. During that time, she spoke with mothers and their children and related to the audience the stories she heard from many victims of the conflict. As one of many examples, she spoke about the case of a two-year old with jaundice and hepatitis. She was in a lot of pain but her medical evacuation had been denied by Israel. She also described how mothers could not get milk formula to feed their babies. The world was witnessing a premeditated and deliberate attack against the future of this population, she added.<\/span><\/p>\n The water and sanitation situation\u00a0were\u00a0also extremely dire. She\u00a0witnessed\u00a0many cases of kidney failure caused by E-coli but also due to\u00a0the salt in drinking water which could not be filtered as Israel was preventing the equipment to enter the Gaza Strip.\u00a0\u00a0She also discussed\u00a0how women and girls were\u00a0affected\u00a0by hypothermia, while lacking\u00a0medication and disinfecting products, causing diseases that were\u00a0totally preventable\u00a0otherwise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ms. Zaynab Al-Ghunaimi<\/span><\/b>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Director General<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>of the Palestinian Center for Legal Research, Consulting and Protection for Women, gave a video testimonial in which she talked about the importance of holding the perpetrators accountable for this attempt at annihilation of a whole community, through starvation, forced displacement and military attacks.\u00a0\u00a0She also talked about the resilience and perseverance of Palestinians to defend their cause. She thanked the women organizations around the world who supported women in Gaza, to protect them not only from the effects of the war, but also from the violations of their rights. She further called for the end of the occupation, in accordance with the ICJ Advisory Opinion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Dr. Adlah Sukkar<\/span><\/b>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Pulmonologist and Critical Care physician<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>with Doctors Against Genocide, talked about how essential medical equipment was prevented by Israel from entering Gaza, including for MRI and cancer treatment. Those restrictions also caused severe malnutrition and made it impossible to treat even simple wounds. In addition, up to 50% of foreign physicians were denied entry while many local health personnel were either killed or detained. She informed that her organization held weekly webinars during which physicians in Gaza described the extreme challenges they have faced, including having been detained and tortured in Israeli custody. In addition to the destruction of healthcare facilities and targeting of medical personnel, many medical students were also not able to complete their education, which will have long-term consequences for the health system.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The current situation\u00a0had\u00a0a profound impact\u00a0related to direct injuries, pregnancy complications,\u00a0traumatic\u00a0birth\u00a0and extreme mental stress.\u00a0As a pulmonologist,\u00a0she raised\u00a0alarm\u00a0about\u00a0the lung health of\u00a0malnourished infants and\u00a0the\u00a0long-term\u00a0effects of\u00a0the inhalation of debris\u00a0from aerosolized\u00a0concrete and asbestos.\u00a0She also shared personal accounts of\u00a0many of\u00a0her\u00a0family members\u00a0who had died in the OPT\u00a0during the repeated\u00a0Israeli aggressions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During the Q&A session,\u00a0<\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Zonya Rivero Lopez<\/span><\/b>, Deputy Secretary-General of the Federation of Cuban Women, spoke about the suffering of Palestinian women and the war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza which led to the death of thousands of women and girls. She lamented the ongoing blockage of humanitarian aid and policies that prevented UNRWA from providing essential assistance. She recalled the rights for Palestinian women to exercise their right to self-determination and the right to an independent Palestinian State. She further stated that Israel\u2019s impunity must cease, adding that the destruction of medical infrastructures prevented women from access to essential services, while hundreds of health workers had also been victims of this war, and that there must be accountability for these crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n The Deputy Permanent Representative of Egypt,\u00a0<\/span>Ms. Heba Mostafa<\/span><\/b>, expressed solidarity with Palestine and saluted the resilience of Palestinian women, recalling their rights to a dignified life. She further stated that the international community was failing them, and that it must act to combat the misinformation about the Palestinian plight and called for the realization of their rights.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ms.\u00a0Tlaleng\u00a0Mofokeng,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, reminded the audience of the strength of humanity\u2019s collective power. She emphasized the need to ensure accountability for the crimes committed against Palestinians, adding that she will present several reports in the coming months, including one focused on highlighting the situation faced by health care workers in Palestine.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In\u00a0her closing\u00a0remarks,\u00a0<\/span>Ambassador Abdelhady\u00a0<\/span><\/b>expressed gratitude to the speakers for their testimonies on the situation faced by women in Palestine. This event put a spotlight on the horrific situation is Gaza and what was urgently needed. Israel made clear its intention to conduct ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Women were burying their children, were left as widows, burying their family members, and suffering immensely. But despite the adversity, Palestinian women continued to play their roles in the society, still serving as role models, in the most devasting war against a civilian population in this century.\u00a0\u00a0But their legendary resilience should not be taken for granted. Urgent actions and solidarity were needed to end the war, to end the illegal occupation and to bring justice, to fulfil the Palestinians\u2019 inalienable right of return and to make it possible for them to exercise self-determination in a sovereign and independent State of Palestine. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mr. Abd. Karim\u00a0<\/span><\/b>closed the event.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n * * *<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ***Note: This Summary attempts to provide an overall picture of the deliberations of the virtual Event.\u00a0\u00a0A video of the Event can be found on the webpage of the CEIRPP,\u00a0www.un.unispal.org\u00a0as well as\u00a0in\u00a0its official Facebook page and YouTube account.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ***Note: The views and opinions expressed in this summary are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For more inforamtion on the event, please click the link below:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nPanel Discussion\u202f\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Discussion<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
Closing<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n