Jason Staines writes:
Health professionals, humanitarian organisations and rights advocates are calling for urgent international action to prevent further escalation in Gaza and the broader Middle East, warning of catastrophic consequences for civilians, regional stability and global security.
Their calls follow a series of recent developments, including:
- Escalating regional tensions following Israeli strikes on Iranian military assets.
- A UN report finding Israeli forces have committed war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination in Gaza.
- Warnings from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and authors in The Lancet about famine, the collapse of healthcare services, and risks to public health.
- Ongoing reports of attacks on journalists and media infrastructure amid broader concerns about the targeting of civilians.
Several organisations, including the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW), say these developments require a coordinated diplomatic and legal response, and a greater focus on peace and protection of civilians.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated its call for de-escalation, with Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posting: “War is not the answer; it breeds destruction and despair. We must seek political solutions and engage in dialogue to foster peace and understanding.”
Below are statements by the United Nations Secretary-General today.


Beyond catastrophic
An article published in The Lancet on 13 June, titled ‘Genocide in Gaza: moral and ethical failures of medical institutions’, described attacks on healthcare workers in Gaza as “grave violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which state unequivocally that medical staff and facilities must be protected at all times in conflict”.
The authors, who include psychiatrists and members of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Racism Awareness Steering Group, call on medical colleges to show “principled moral leadership, not only by vocally condemning this genocide, but also providing material resources and support to the remaining healthcare professionals in Gaza”.
“To our knowledge, the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine issued the only statement from an Australasian medical college containing a call for the prevention of genocide in Gaza,” they said.
One of the report’s co-authors, psychiatry registrar Dr Helena Niu, told Croakey: “As a psychiatry registrar, I’ve seen the devastating impact of trauma in our communities, including for First Nations people.
“Australians are horrified by the mass murder of civilians and healthcare workers in Gaza while the international community watches on. Doctors especially must advocate for all oppressed peoples; we cannot be bystanders to violence and suffering.”
Meanwhile, a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned of widespread hunger, mass casualties and mounting restrictions on aid access.
It said Israeli forces have committed war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination, with Commission Chair Navi Pillay describing the war in Gaza as “the most ruthless, prolonged and widespread attack against the Palestinian people since 1948”.
Pillay said the Israeli government’s goal was “abundantly clear: the destruction of life in Gaza”. The Commission found that over 90 percent of schools and universities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, while more than half of all religious and cultural sites have also been targeted.
The report also documented violations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the seizure of cultural heritage sites, increased restrictions on religious access, and rising settler violence against students and teachers. Pillay said these actions formed part of a broader pattern aimed at eroding Palestinians’ historical ties to the land and undermining their right to self-determination.
Calls to action
In a separate statement, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called on European leaders to use their leverage to halt what it describes as a deliberate and systematic campaign by Israel to destroy the conditions necessary for Palestinian life in Gaza.
“The war in Gaza has been allowed to become one of the most egregious, deadly and ruthless wars waged on a people,” it said.
“What we are witnessing is the calculated evisceration of the very systems that sustain life. It is ethnic cleansing, wrapped in the rhetoric of security defence, but executed with complete disregard for International Humanitarian and Human Rights Laws.”
MSF called on member states to take four immediate steps:
- Lift the siege: MSF described the blocking of humanitarian aid as “collective punishment” and a war crime. “Every delay is costing lives,” it said.
- Defend humanitarian action: The statement rejected the politicisation of aid and warned that using humanitarian relief as a bargaining chip “is not only cynical; it is deadly”.
- End complicity: Despite public condemnation from some governments, MSF noted that many continue to supply the weapons being used in Gaza. “Governments must end their complicity in this campaign of ethnic cleansing.”
- Expand medical evacuations: Around 13,000 people, including more than 4,500 children, are in urgent need of medical evacuation, MSF said. Only a few hundred have been accepted by European states to date.

Australian Government urged to act
In a public letter sent to Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong this week, the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) urged the Australian Government to take stronger action in response to what it described as “Israel’s crime against humanity of extermination”.
Citing findings from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, MAPW said Israeli attacks have obliterated Gaza’s education system and destroyed over half of all religious and cultural sites in the territory, forming part of a “widespread and relentless assault against the Palestinian people”.
MAPW President Dr Sue Wareham called on Australia to adopt measures consistent with those taken in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These include:
- Public condemnation of attacks on civilians
- Support for international legal processes
- Sanctions on individuals and entities involved in human rights abuses
- Restrictions on the transfer of military equipment.
MAPW also urged Australia to support The Hague Group, a coalition of nations seeking to enforce international law and prevent the transfer of military goods to Israel. The group supports the implementation of International Criminal Court arrest warrants, a ban on port access for military shipments, and measures to block weapons transfers.
“These actions are not politically partisan. They are obligatory … Failure to fulfil our legal obligations may render Australia complicit in the most grievous crimes,” the letter said.
Nuclear concerns
MAPW also warned of the potential for escalation following Israeli military strikes on Iranian facilities.
In a public statement published on its website, MAPW highlighted the risk of regional war involving nuclear-armed states, saying the Israeli attacks on Iran had “added significantly to the threat of a wider, possibly nuclear, war in the region”.
The group called for a shift in international discourse away from military strategy and towards de-escalation and peace-building, particularly among nuclear powers.
“Israel’s attacks also highlight the urgent need for all governments, including our own, to rightfully uphold international laws and norms – impartially and not selectively. Israel’s claim of ‘preventive self-defence’ has no legitimacy in international law, and has been widely condemned as a violation of the United Nations Charter. Any targeting of civilians – who bear the greatest burden of conflict – by any actor, is also a crime,” it said.
MAPW and other advocates argue that Australia and its allies should act consistently in their application of international humanitarian law, regardless of the parties involved.
Their message is clear: accountability, aid access, and the protection of civilians must not be selective.
The health and humanitarian impacts of the conflict, they warn, will have long-term consequences unless decisive steps are taken now to de-escalate violence and prioritise peace.
“All efforts for peace must be redoubled,” said the MAPW statement. “This means prioritising diplomacy and fostering cooperative action to secure a safer future for all.
“Such efforts deserve funding and commitment on a scale currently reserved for military preparations. If we truly desire peace, we must prepare for peace – with as much resolve as we do for war.”
Attacks on journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has reported the deaths of at least four journalists and media workers in the current conflict, including those killed in Israeli or Iranian strikes. In one case, Iranian state television was bombed during a live broadcast.
The IFJ said such attacks were a violation of international law and a serious threat to media freedom and accountability.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “Media professionals in areas of armed conflict must be treated and protected as civilians and allowed to perform their work without interference.”
Advocacy online
Alongside institutional responses, individual health professionals and researchers have been speaking out on social media, urging governments and the public to prioritise peace and protection of civilians.

See Croakey’s archive of articles on conflict and health