Latest news with #Meron
Business Recorder
17 hours ago
- Health
- Business Recorder
Israel says WHO ‘selective silence' deafening after hospital hit in Iranian strike
GENEVA: Israel accused the World Health Organization of a deafening 'selective silence' after a hospital in southern Israel was hit in an Iranian missile strike on Thursday. Daniel Meron, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba was a civilian facility. In a video on X filmed outside the WHO's headquarters, he demanded a condemnation from the UN health agency. A few hours later, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement saying the reports on attacks on health in the conflict between Iran and Israel were 'appalling', citing the hospital. The Soroka Hospital was left in flames by a bombardment that Iran said targeted a military and intelligence base. In his video, Meron was standing at the road entrance to the WHO's offices in Geneva, with the main building visible in the background. 'I'm here with a clear message to the WHO, to the director general of the WHO, Dr Tedros,' Meron said. Trump to decide on US action in Israel-Iran conflict within two weeks, White House says 'A few hours ago, a ballistic missile was shot from Iran directly at the main hospital in the south of Israel, the Soroka Hospital. Dozens of people were wounded and hundreds were evacuated from this hospital. 'It is not a military site. It is a civilian hospital… the selective silence of the WHO is deafening. 'They must condemn the shooting of ballistic missiles and the targeting from Iran at civilian targets in Israel.' The WHO has repeatedly mentioned damage to healthcare infrastructure in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in the Palestinian territory, triggered by the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas. On Tuesday, the WHO said only 17 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were currently minimally to partially functional. In a message later Thursday on X, Tedros said: 'The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran is putting health facilities and access to health care at risk. The reports on the attacks on health so far are appalling.' He cited 'this morning's attack on Soroka Medical Centre', and a hospital in Kermanshah in Iran being 'impacted by a nearby explosion'. 'We call on all parties to protect health facilities, health personnel and patients at all times,' said Tedros. WHO's director for Europe Hans Kluge said he was 'deeply disturbed to learn of the attack on Soroka Hospital', having visited it following the October 7, 2023 attacks. 'Hospitals and health workers must never be targets – under any circumstances,' Kluge said. Israel is in the WHO's Europe region.
Hindustan Times
18 hours ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Israel says WHO's 'selective silence' deafening after hospital hit in Iranian strike
Israel accused the World Health Organization of a deafening "selective silence" after a hospital in southern Israel was hit in an Iranian missile strike on Thursday. Daniel Meron, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba was a civilian facility. In a video on X filmed outside the WHO's headquarters, he demanded a condemnation from the UN health agency. A few hours later, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement saying the reports on attacks on health in the conflict between Iran and Israel were "appalling", citing the hospital. The Soroka Hospital was left in flames by a bombardment that Iran said targeted a military and intelligence base. In his video, Meron was standing at the road entrance to the WHO's offices in Geneva, with the main building visible in the background. "I'm here with a clear message to the WHO, to the director general of the WHO, Dr Tedros," Meron said. "A few hours ago, a ballistic missile was shot from Iran directly at the main hospital in the south of Israel, the Soroka Hospital. Dozens of people were wounded and hundreds were evacuated from this hospital. "It is not a military site. It is a civilian hospital... the selective silence of the WHO is deafening. "They must condemn the shooting of ballistic missiles and the targeting from Iran at civilian targets in Israel." The WHO has repeatedly mentioned damage to healthcare infrastructure in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in the Palestinian territory, triggered by the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas. On Tuesday, the WHO said only 17 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were currently minimally to partially functional. In a message later Thursday on X, Tedros said: "The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran is putting health facilities and access to health care at risk. The reports on the attacks on health so far are appalling." He cited "this morning's attack on Soroka Medical Centre", and a hospital in Kermanshah in Iran being "impacted by a nearby explosion". "We call on all parties to protect health facilities, health personnel and patients at all times," said Tedros. WHO's director for Europe Hans Kluge said he was "deeply disturbed to learn of the attack on Soroka Hospital", having visited it following the October 7, 2023 attacks. "Hospitals and health workers must never be targets -- under any circumstances," Kluge said. Israel is in the WHO's Europe region.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel seeking 'substitutes' for UNRWA in Gaza: ambassador
Israel said Monday that it was "encouraging" other UN agencies and NGOs to take over the assistance provided in war-ravaged Gaza by UNRWA, after Israel cut ties with the aid agency. "We, the state of Israel, are working to find substitutes to the work of UNRWA inside Gaza," Daniel Meron, Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, told reporters. Israel, he said, was actively "encouraging UN agencies and NGOs to take over". For more than seven decades, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has provided essential aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees. But after Israel accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants and charged that some staff members took part in the October 7, 2023 attacks, legislation severing ties with the agency came into force at the end of January. UNRWA has been banned from operating on Israeli soil, and contact between it and Israeli officials is forbidden. The move sparked fears that it would hamper vital services delivered by the lead agency in coordinating aid to Gaza, ravaged by 17 months of war. But so far, UNRWA has continued to provide aid, saying Sunday that since late January it had "delivered food assistance to the entire population of the Gaza Strip". During the period it also provided "over 412,000 health consultations and reached more than half a million people with shelter and non-food items". UN agencies and other aid organisations have repeatedly said that there was no replacement in Gaza for UNRWA, which is also the main provider of basic public services in the strip, including education and social services for registered Palestinian refugees. But Meron said Israel was urging other organisations to step in, "each one in its own field that they specialise in". For instance, he said, the UN's World Food Programme could deal with food, while "others deal with other issues". "There has been serious work... with the different agencies and making sure that the people of Gaza will not suffer because of the this... switch from UNRWA to other agencies," he said. He did not provide further details about other agencies contacted or how they had responded to the Israeli request. nl/rjm/js
