January 2025 
STATEMENT REGARDING
THE GAZA CEASEFIRE
JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE
HEALTH ADVISORY COUNCIL

The ceasefire has begun. The constant bombing, shelling, and sniping are on pause for the next several weeks. Hundreds of trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies and parked for months just outside of Gaza checkpoints have begun to deliver life-saving aid. This is a time of respite from violent attacks, starvation, and repeated displacements, but the fact remains that the infrastructure necessary to support the lives of over two million people in Gaza has been almost entirely destroyed [1]. As the smoke clears, we are left with the realization that Palestinian lives continue to be critically endangered by illness, disease, malnutrition, and lack of access to healthcare.

JVP HAC calls for more than just a ceasefire. The ultimate goal is security, freedom, health, dignity, prosperity, and respect for international humanitarian law that can only come with a definitive end to hostilities, an end to occupation and apartheid, and recognition of Palestinian sovereignty. High on the list of immediate needs however, is attention to the health care of Palestinians in Gaza. Given the physical destruction of the healthcare infrastructure, this is a major challenge. In addition to making the cease-fire permanent, this will require the opening of all checkpoints into Gaza.

We call for the following health-related measures:

1. Immediate reversal of the law banning UNRWA from Gaza and all occupied Palestinian territories.

2. Establishment of general public health measures including facilitated access to food and water, sanitation, fuel, and winterized shelter including blankets, bedding, and clothing.

3. Reopening of all healthcare facilities where feasible and deployment of temporary field hospitals and clinics where no permanent facility is available. No restrictions of the evacuation of victims of trauma who have been accepted for treatment in other countries.

4. The immediate release of all Palestinian HCWs in Israeli detention, staffing of healthcare facilities with Gazan healthcare workers, supplemented by volunteer HCWs whose arrival should be expedited to achieve full workforce levels.

5. Expedited entry of all necessary pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and supplies.

The challenge is formidable, but so is the determination of the Palestinian people. We must do everything possible to support their recovery and their future. Join us.

[1] ‘Hospitals have become battlegrounds’: Gaza’s health system on brink of collapse, UN News