Geneva: UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, has declared that the right to health in the Gaza Strip has become virtually non-existent under the weight of Israel's ongoing 21-month assault on the enclave. Speaking during the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mofokeng described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as deteriorating daily.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, Mofokeng stated that it is no longer possible to speak of the right to health in Gaza in any meaningful way, citing the extensive and systematic violations committed by Israel, the occupying power. Mofokeng emphasized that since the onset of the Israeli onslaught in October 2023, health facilities, medical personnel, and vital determinants of health have been subjected to repeated and deliberate attacks.
The Special Rapporteur warned that conditions continue to worsen by the day. She highlighted that life-saving food aid, intended to prevent starvation and imminent death, is being used by the occupying forces to target defenseless civilians trying to feed themselves and their families.
Mofokeng also condemned Israel's ongoing obstruction of humanitarian access to Gaza, noting that UN agencies are being denied free and unrestricted entry into the occupied Palestinian territory to deliver aid and assist civilians.
She described the current reality in Gaza as 'imperialist colonial violence directed against an unarmed population unable to defend itself.' Mofokeng stressed that both the United Nations and the international community possess the legal tools necessary to halt the atrocities being committed, referencing international human rights law, the UN Charter, and numerous legal mechanisms that can and must be used.
