GENEVA, June 1, 2026 — The annual meeting of the UN’s World Health Organization, which wrapped up on May 23, 2026, singled out Israel for special condemnation, while electing China to a leadership role.
Deviating from its focus on public health emergencies, the 79th World Health Assembly held a special debate on May 20-21 to single out Israel, which was condemned by several countries, including North Korea, China, Turkey, Spain, South Africa, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Syria, Russia, and Iran, for allegedly violating the health rights of Palestinians and the Druze population in the Golan Heights.
By a vote of 89 to 5, with 31 abstentions, the WHO assembly adopted a resolution, submitted by the Syrian and Palestinian delegations, requiring the WHO to hold the same debate at next year’s meeting, and to prepare another report on the “Health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.”
Co-sponsors of the resolution included China, North Korea, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. No other country received a special agenda item at the WHO assembly.
This year’s assembly also marks the second consecutive year in which WHO member states adopted an additional, duplicative resolution singling out Israel. The second resolution, “Health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem,” was adopted by a vote of 108 to 3, with 13 abstentions. It stems from a December 2023 resolution adopted at a special session of the WHO Executive Board, which expanded the organization’s scrutiny of Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre and the ensuing war in Gaza.
New this year, the WHO assembly also adopted a resolution on the “health emergency in Lebanon resulting from ongoing and recently intensified hostilities.” The resolution, condemnatory against Israel, failed to even once mention Hezbollah, or the thousands of rockets the terrorist group has continuously launched at Israeli civilians.
WHO Singles Out Israel, Ignores Sudan, DRC, and Yemen.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, an independent non-governmental organization that monitors the UN, condemned the “cynical politicization of the world’s top health agency at the expense of focusing on urgent health priorities affecting hundreds of millions around the globe.”
“Out of 22 items on the current world health assembly’s agenda,” said Neuer, “only one focused on a specific country — Israel,” said Neuer.
“There has been no agenda item on any other country, conflict, civil war or political impasse. Nothing on Sudan, where 34 million people require urgent assistance, and more than a third of health facilities are non-functional; nothing on the DRC, where conflict, mass displacement, and recurrent outbreaks of cholera, measles, and Ebola have left 7 million people in need of urgent health assistance; and nothing on Yemen, where 17 million people, nearly half the population, face severe food insecurity,” said Neuer.
Session Falsely Accused Israel of Violating Palestinian & Syrian Health Rights
Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Islamic states, condemned Israel’s “obstruction of the WHO’s mandate,” and called on the Director-General to “deploy a multi-disciplinary field mission to the Occupied Syrian Golan,” to “assess the mental, physical, and environmental health conditions of Syrian populations.”
Turkey condemned “3 years of genocidal aggression” against civilians in Gaza, as well as “the destruction of healthcare facilities and attacks on healthcare personnel in violation of international humanitarian law.”
China stated that “in Palestine, medical facilities are under constant attacks.”
North Korea expressed “grave concern at the serious health conditions in Palestine,” and strongly condemned “Israel’s criminal acts.”
Spain said “the level of destruction caused by indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population and health infrastructure,” are “in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
Venezuela expressed “its deep concern given the grave and sustained deterioration of humanitarian and health conditions in Gaza and the West Bank,” and condemned Israel for “attacks against health personnel and infrastructure.”
South Africa accused Israel of “medicide, an act of genocide, a crime against humanity designed to destroy the Palestinian people as a group.”
Iran said that “the relentless attacks by the Israeli regime on Palestine has severely impacted healthcare services,” accusing Israel of “repeated attacks on medical facilities.”
Russia expressed concern about the situation in the West Bank, “where access to medical assistance is made more difficult because of physical barriers and also restriction on movement.”
Neuer condemned the inflammatory remarks. “Today’s assault on Israel at the WHO by some of the world’s most oppressive regimes promoted the lie that Israel is harming Palestinian health rights,” said Neuer. “In reality, Israel has long been a major provider of medical care to Palestinians, while Hamas systematically exploits hospitals and civilian infrastructure for military purposes.”
“The regimes who attacked the Jewish state were projecting: the more oppressive they are to their own people and to their minorities, the more they resort to trying to demonize the only democracy in the Middle East.”
Biased Resolutions Heavily Backed by Dictatorships and Minority of EU
The first resolution against Israel was adopted by a vote of 89 to 5, with 31 abstentions and 56 absent. The second was adopted by a vote of 108 to 3, with 13 abstentions. The third was adopted by a vote of 96 to 2, with 18 abstentions.
Neuer commended Honduras for voting against all 3 anti-Israel resolutions at this year’s session. Last year, Honduras supported all anti-Israel initiatives, indicating a remarkable political shift. Neuer also praised Paraguay for changing its vote from Abstain to No on the first resolution, while also commending Hungary and the Czech Republic for continuing to oppose the resolution, as they did last year.
However, Neuer expressed concern that Hungary changed its vote on the second resolution from No to Abstain, while the Czech Republic maintained their abstention from last year rather than voting No.
“The minority of EU member states and other democracies that voted for these absurd resolutions should be ashamed, including France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, India, Ireland, New Zealand, and Luxembourg. Germany, in particular, should be called out for changing its vote on the first resolution from No to Abstain.”
“These countries have now encouraged the continued hijacking of the world’s health priorities, and the diversion of precious time, money, and resources needed to fight global disease, in order to wage a political prosecution of Israel.”
“Anyone who has ever walked into an Israeli hospital or clinic knows that they provide world-class health care to thousands of Arabs, Israeli and Palestinian,” Neuer added.
Resolution Mandates Renewed Report & Debate on Israel
The first two resolutions require the WHO Director-General to prepare further reports for the 80th World Health Assembly in 2027, thereby ensuring another debate devoted to vitriolic accusations against Israel by Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and others.
This year’s two Director-General reports served as the basis for hours of country condemnations during the special session on Israel. However, the first report is three pages, and the second report 5 pages, offering little support for the sweeping accusations made during the debate.
The first report on health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan, provides no substantive findings on health conditions in the Golan, with the Director-General admitting that he is “not yet able to provide a detailed report.” This exposes the hours-long debate for what it is: a political ritual, rather than an evidence-based discussion of public health.
The second report, on health conditions occupied Palestinian territory, with a focus on the Gaza strip, does not mention Hamas once. Rather, it creates a one-sided narrative, solely blaming Israel for the suffering of Palestinians and their deteriorating access to healthcare. The report fails to cite verified evidence of Hamas embedding itself within hospitals, effectively turning health infrastructure into a battlefield. The report also relies on figures provided by the Hamas-run “Gaza Ministry of Health,” which does not distinguish between civilians and combatant deaths, portraying Israel’s military campaign as indiscriminate while obscuring its stated objective of targeting combatants.
Resolutions on Russia and Iran
In addition to the three resolutions targeting Israel, there was also one resolution on Russia, and one on Iran.
When Iran tried to push back with its own resolution calling on the assembly to condemn the “multiple attacks against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities,” this was overwhelmingly defeated, with only 19 votes in favor, versus 30 opposed, and 132 abstaining or absent.
No other country in the world — not China, not North Korea, not Sudan, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or Syria — was criticized by a resolution at the 2026 World Health Assembly.
China Elected
During the session, China was also elected on a 3-year term to the 34-member WHO executive board, empowering the authoritarian country to further shape global health policy.
