The World Health Organization has approved the decision to raise the flag of the State of Palestine at its headquarters.

The World Health Organization's General Assembly adopted a resolution on Monday to raise the flag of the State of Palestine at the organization's headquarters, following the example of other member states.

The resolution was supported by 95 countries, while four countries opposed it: Israel, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Germany. 27 countries abstained from voting.

In his address to the General Assembly, Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations in Geneva, said, "The decision is symbolic and represents a single step, but it is evidence that we are part of the international community that contributes to supporting health issues. We hope to soon achieve full membership in the World Health Organization and all United Nations institutions."

In response to the occupying state's ambassador, who described the resolution as illogical and accused the organization of politicizing its work to include a similar draft resolution, Ambassador Khraishi said that 19 months after the genocide against the Palestinian people, the commission of war crimes, and the issuance of arrest warrants against the occupation's prime minister and former defense minister by the International Criminal Court, it is appropriate to reconsider the occupying state's membership in international organizations.

It is worth noting that the State of Palestine, which has "observer state" status in the World Health Organization, recently obtained the General Assembly's approval of its membership in the organization's International Health Regulations, a system of laws and procedures that governs the relationship between national health ministries and the World Health Organization, particularly in the areas of emergencies and response to epidemics and pandemics.

This step represents a qualitative shift in enabling Palestine to benefit from international support in health emergencies, and from international cooperation and coordination mechanisms to provide appropriate healthcare to the Palestinian population.