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Is WONCA complicit in genocide? ¿Coopera la WONCA en el genocidio en Gaza? ENGL ESP

Is WONCA complicit in genocide? ¿Coopera la WONCA en el genocidio en Gaza? ENGL ESP
Publicado el 28 de abril.

Why does WONCA tolerate the complicit silence of the Israel Association of Family Physicians? ¿Por qué tolera la WONCA el silencio cómplice de la Israel Association of Family Physicians?

Justicia Global
 
Tras los titulares sobre Gaza después del alto el fuego: por qué la WONCA (Organización Mundial de Médicos Generales y de Familia) y la SAAFP (Academia Sudafricana de Medicina de Familia) aún necesitan claridad moral 
Fecha: 28 de abril de 2026. Autor: Shabir Moosa.
 
La atención mundial se ha desviado. Gaza ya no acapara los titulares como lo hacía en el apogeo de los bombardeos masivos, y la atención geopolítica se redirige rápidamente hacia otros lugares.
 
Sin embargo, la destrucción de la atención médica, el sufrimiento de la población civil y el control coercitivo en Gaza no cesan simplemente porque la atención internacional se haya difuminado (1,2).
 
La WONCA no ha guardado silencio. Ha emitido una declaración de crisis, una declaración más amplia sobre el conflicto, una publicación de apoyo a Palestina y, posteriormente, artículos sobre recaudación de fondos y apoyo a Gaza (3-7).
 
Su presidenta también ha escrito que la rendición de cuentas, la equidad, la compasión y la defensa de la salud como derecho humano deben guiar el liderazgo de WONCA, y que los ataques contra las instalaciones sanitarias y el desplazamiento forzado privan a las personas de atención y dignidad (8).
 
Precisamente por eso, la brecha actual es importante. Estas intervenciones demuestran reconocimiento, pero aún no constituyen una respuesta institucional coherente a la conducta israelí en Gaza ni al silencio de la Asociación Israelí de Médicos de Familia (9,10).
 
Los estatutos dificultan que esta brecha se considere meramente retórica. La misión de la WONCA incluye el respeto a los derechos humanos universales, y su reglamento establece un procedimiento de queja cuando la política de una organización miembro deja de ajustarse al Artículo 4 (11) y la revocación de la membresía según el Artículo 5.3.1.4.
 
Esto significa que solicitar a WONCA que aclare sus expectativas respecto a la Asociación Israelí de Médicos de Familia no implica imponer una agenda ajena a la organización, sino que se le pide que aplique sus propios valores y marco de gobernanza de forma coherente (8,9,11).
 
Desde septiembre de 2025, este problema se ha vuelto aún más difícil de eludir. La Comisión de Investigación de la ONU declaró que Israel cometió genocidio en Gaza, y el informe completo reafirmó posteriormente las conclusiones sobre los actos genocidas, la intención y la responsabilidad estatal (12,13). El informe de la OMS sobre 2025 en el territorio palestino ocupado indica que Gaza continuó sufriendo una destrucción catastrófica hasta finales de año, con un total acumulado de 71.271 muertos y 171.233 heridos al 31 de diciembre de 2025, más de 930 ataques documentados contra la atención médica, los 36 hospitales dañados y ningún hospital operativo en el norte de Gaza a finales de diciembre de 2025 (1).
 
En octubre de 2025, las asociaciones médicas nacionales declararon públicamente que al menos el 94% de los hospitales de Gaza habían sido dañados o destruidos y que el personal sanitario había sido asesinado, detenido y maltratado (2). 
 
En este contexto, la cuestión ya no es si se ha dicho lo suficiente en general. La cuestión radica en si el lenguaje de WONCA sobre rendición de cuentas, equidad y derechos humanos tendrá efecto institucional cuando un organismo miembro permanece en silencio públicamente ante pruebas abrumadoras (8,9,11). Por eso, los llamamientos a WONCA y a la SAAFP siguen siendo importantes (14,15).
 
Referencias

 

  1. World Health Organization. Report: WHO’s response in the occupied Palestinian territory (January–December 2025). 2026 Apr 13. Available from: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/report-whos-response-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-january-december-2025/
  2. Healthcare in Gaza: a joint statement from national medical associations. BMA. 2025 Oct 7. Available from: https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/healthcare-in-gaza-a-joint-statement-from-national-medical-associations
  3. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). WONCA Statement on Israeli and Palestinian crisis. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/WONCAStatementonIsraeliandPalestiniancrisis.aspx
  4. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Statement on Protecting Health Workers and Patients in All Conflict Settings. 2025 Aug 27. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/WONCA_Statement_August_2025.aspx
  5. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Supporting Our Physician Colleagues in Palestine. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/SupportingOurPhysicianColleaguesinPalestine.aspx
  6. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Support Gaza healthcare workers: WONCA backs MSF emergency fund. 2025 Oct 17. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/MSFemergencyfundGaza.aspx
  7. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Support Oxfam’s Emergency Response in Gaza. 2025 Oct 17. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/OxfamEmergencyResponseGaza.aspx
  8. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). From the President: Family Medicine for a Changing World. September 2025. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/FromthePresidentSeptember2025_2.aspx
  9. WONCA Europe. Israel Association of Family Physicians. Available from: https://www.woncaeurope.org/institutes/display/557f8bbc-a365-4ccb-a3c7-1aff105ace09/Israel-Association-of-Family-Physicians
  10. Moosa S. WONCA’s Statement on Gaza Is Not Enough — We Need Moral Clarity, Not Equivalence. ProfMoosa. 2025 Aug 31. Available from: https://profmoosa.com/woncas-statement-on-gaza-is-not-enough-we-need-moral-clarity-not-equivalence/
  11. WONCA Association. Bylaws. September 2025. Approved by the WONCA Council by Ordinary General Meeting September 2025.
  12. UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry. Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. A/HRC/60/CRP.3. Geneva: UN; 2026 Mar 8. Available from: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/commission-of-inquiry-report-genocide-in-gaza-a-hrc-60-crp-3/
  13. Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds. 2025 Sep 16. Available from: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds
  14. South African Academy of Family Physicians. Gaza, SAAFP, social activism and the world. [Internal communication]. 2026 Apr 2.
  15. Moosa S. A Landmark Victory: SAAFP Adopts Historic Motion on Palestine. ProfMoosa. 2025 Sep 9. Available from: https://profmoosa.com/a-landmark-victory-saafp-adopts-historic-motion-on-palestine/

Global Justice
Gaza after the ceasefire headlines: why WONCA (World Organization of General Practitioners/Family Physician) and SAAFP (The South African Academy of Family Phisicians) still need moral clarity
[Gaza after the ceasefire headlines: why WONCA and SAAFP still need moral clarity]
Date: April 28, 2026 Author: Shabir Moosa 

The world’s attention has shifted. Gaza no longer dominates headlines in the same way it did at the height of mass bombardment, and geopolitical attention is repeatedly redirected elsewhere. But the destruction of health care, civilian suffering, and coercive control in Gaza do not stop simply because international attention has moved on (1,2).

WONCA has not been silent. It has issued a crisis statement, a broader conflict statement, a supportive Palestine post, and later Gaza fundraising and support features (3-7). Its President has also written that accountability, equity, compassion, and the defence of health as a human right should guide WONCA’s leadership, and that attacks on health facilities and forced displacement strip people of care and dignity (8). That is precisely why the current gap matters. These interventions show acknowledgement, but they still do not amount to a coherent institutional response to Israeli conduct in Gaza or to the silence of the Israel Association of Family Physicians (9,10).

The bylaws make this gap harder to dismiss as merely rhetorical. WONCA’s mission includes respect for universal human rights, and its rules provide a process for complaint where a member organization’s policy may no longer accord with Article 4 (11) and revocation of membership based on Article 5.3.1.4. This means that asking WONCA to clarify its expectations of the Israel Association of Family Physicians is not an attempt to impose an alien agenda on the organization. It is a request that WONCA apply its own values and governance framework consistently (8,9,11).

Since September 2025, this issue has become even more difficult to evade. The UN Commission of Inquiry stated that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, and the fuller report later reaffirmed findings of genocidal acts, intent, and state responsibility (12,13). WHO’s report on 2025 in the occupied Palestinian territory states that Gaza continued to suffer catastrophic destruction through the end of the year, with 71,271 people reported killed and 171,233 injured cumulatively by 31 December 2025, over 930 documented attacks on health care, all 36 hospitals damaged, and no hospitals operational in North Gaza by late December 2025 (1). By October 2025, national medical associations were publicly stating that at least 94% of Gaza’s hospitals had been damaged or destroyed and that healthcare workers had been killed, detained, and abused (2).

In that setting, the question is no longer whether enough has been said in general. The question is whether WONCA’s language of accountability, equity, and human rights will be given institutional effect when a member body remains publicly silent in the face of overwhelming evidence (8,9,11). That is why calls to WONCA and SAAFP still matter (14,15).

References

  1. World Health Organization. Report: WHO’s response in the occupied Palestinian territory (January–December 2025). 2026 Apr 13. Available from: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/report-whos-response-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-january-december-2025/
  2. Healthcare in Gaza: a joint statement from national medical associations. BMA. 2025 Oct 7. Available from: https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/healthcare-in-gaza-a-joint-statement-from-national-medical-associations
  3. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). WONCA Statement on Israeli and Palestinian crisis. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/WONCAStatementonIsraeliandPalestiniancrisis.aspx
  4. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Statement on Protecting Health Workers and Patients in All Conflict Settings. 2025 Aug 27. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/WONCA_Statement_August_2025.aspx
  5. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Supporting Our Physician Colleagues in Palestine. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/SupportingOurPhysicianColleaguesinPalestine.aspx
  6. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Support Gaza healthcare workers: WONCA backs MSF emergency fund. 2025 Oct 17. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/MSFemergencyfundGaza.aspx
  7. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Support Oxfam’s Emergency Response in Gaza. 2025 Oct 17. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/OxfamEmergencyResponseGaza.aspx
  8. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). From the President: Family Medicine for a Changing World. September 2025. Available from: https://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/News/FromthePresidentSeptember2025_2.aspx
  9. WONCA Europe. Israel Association of Family Physicians. Available from: https://www.woncaeurope.org/institutes/display/557f8bbc-a365-4ccb-a3c7-1aff105ace09/Israel-Association-of-Family-Physicians
  10. Moosa S. WONCA’s Statement on Gaza Is Not Enough — We Need Moral Clarity, Not Equivalence. ProfMoosa. 2025 Aug 31. Available from: https://profmoosa.com/woncas-statement-on-gaza-is-not-enough-we-need-moral-clarity-not-equivalence/
  11. WONCA Association. Bylaws. September 2025. Approved by the WONCA Council by Ordinary General Meeting September 2025.
  12. UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry. Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. A/HRC/60/CRP.3. Geneva: UN; 2026 Mar 8. Available from: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/commission-of-inquiry-report-genocide-in-gaza-a-hrc-60-crp-3/
  13. Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds. 2025 Sep 16. Available from: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds
  14. South African Academy of Family Physicians. Gaza, SAAFP, social activism and the world. [Internal communication]. 2026 Apr 2.
  15. Moosa S. A Landmark Victory: SAAFP Adopts Historic Motion on Palestine. ProfMoosa. 2025 Sep 9. Available from: https://profmoosa.com/a-landmark-victory-saafp-adopts-historic-motion-on-palestine/

 

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