Dear The Faculty of Public Health Board Members, 

We, the undersigned, urge the Faculty of Public Health to advocate, with the following calls to action, on the manufactured humanitarian crisis in Gaza; highlighting the catastrophic status of public health in the region, and committing to advocate for the health, wellbeing and human rights of Palestinians.

In November 2023, the Faculty of Public Health called for the protection of civilians, healthcare workers and health systems across Palestine and Israel. Since this release, the International Court’s of Justice (ICJ) ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide to Palestinians living on the Gaza Strip (1). At the time of writing the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports over 56,000 Palestinian fatalities (2); a five-fold increase since the ICJ’s ruling which itself is likely a gross under-estimate, (3,4) This total includes at least 17,000 children, 463 aid workers, 1,580 health workers, 122 civil defence staff, 701 educational staff and 225 journalists.132,239 people have been injured - with approximately 10,500-12,500 patients requiring medical evacuation and over 1 million children in need of mental health support (5). Forced displacement and systematic violence also continues in the West Bank, (6). OCHA reports that between 1st January 2024 and 30th April 2025 there have been 616 Palestinians killed in the West Bank by either Israeli forces or settlers, which includes 115 children (7).

On the 27 June 2025 UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire, warning that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached “horrific proportions” (8). OCHA reports that only 47% of hospitals are still partly functional with 92% of housing units, 89% of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities, 2308 educational facilities, >60 university buildings and 81% of the classified road network having been either damaged or destroyed. 100% of the population face acute food insecurity, with 71,000 cases of acute malnutrition among children and 17,000 among pregnant or breastfeeding women (9). The majority of the population have experienced repeated forced displacement, and community, socio-economic, cultural, religious, communications, media, and civic infrastructure has all been severely impacted. (10) Total and deliberate blockade of basic necessities such as food, fuel and medical supplies has recently been replaced by the delivery of small volumes of aid at militarised distribution sites. These mechanisms of aid distribution undermine recognised humanitarian standards of impartiality and independence, bypass trusted local and international organisations, and have become the site of near daily mass shootings, resulting in 500 killed and 4000 injured (11). More than 130 charities have called for the Global Humanitarian Foundation to be shut down as a result (12).

On 4 June 2025, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the International Child Health Group, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of General Practitioners wrote to the Foreign Secretary asking for a meeting to discuss the ‘humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza’. (13) Other public health leaders and nationally representative bodies such as the Public Health Association of New Zealand and the Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Professor Liam Smeeth, have also recently spoken publicly, (14,15).

The Faculty of Public Health is uniquely positioned to highlight the breadth, depth and systemic nature of the collective impact on the population, including communication of its long-term and multi-generational impacts. Advocacy is a core part of the Faculty of Public Health’s strategic objectives, and our values and expertise as a profession are highly relevant to the development of equitable, just and sustainable responses.  Furthermore the Faculty’s Anti-Racism and Decolonisation Strategy calls on its members to proactively pursue reparative and transformative justice, and apply human rights based approaches in all that we do (16). 

 We call for the Faculty of Public Health to: 

1. Urgently issue an updated statement on the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In line with the actions of other UK colleges, public health bodies and academic institutions, we ask that the statement makes immediate calls for: 

• Universal compliance with international humanitarian law (17) to ensure the protection of civilians, critical public infrastructure and principles of medical neutrality. 
• Israel to end the impeded delivery of lifesaving medical assistance and near total blockade of food, water and goods to Gaza, in line with the International Court of Justice’s findings to prevent the risk of genocide. 
• Sustained ceasefire and the release of all hostages and arbitrary detainees. (18)
• The delivery of militarily and politically independent, efficient, and unobstructed humanitarian aid that fully responds to the magnitude of the crisis.
• A halt to all UK arms exports to Israel(19).

2.  That the Faculty of Public Health endorses the letter of the 4 June of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the International Child Health Group, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of General Practitioners and joins in taking a proactive advocacy role.

3. That the Faculty of Public Health commits to supporting the long-term redevelopment of Gaza’s decimated public health systems, working collaboratively with local communities and international colleagues, to co-develop a programme of work. 

4. We ask the Faculty of Public Health to issue a statement supporting Public Health Professionals who speak out about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and those who have been personally or professionally impacted

We look forward to hearing from the Faculty of Public Health with an opportunity for further discussion.

Yours sincerely,