Professor David Harel, President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, issues this warning: We cannot remain silent in the face of the terrible humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, which threatens the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of human beings.

 

I see it as a professional and moral duty to express a position on this matter, when medical data and expert opinions show evidence of extreme humanitarian distress. The prolonged fighting in the Strip since October 2023 has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, a great many of them children and women. Data from international agencies point to the collapse of the health system and absence of essential medicines, extreme shortage of clean drinking water due to destruction of water and sewage infrastructure, acute malnutrition among thousands of children and deterioration in their health condition, lack of access to fuel and electricity needed to operate life-saving medical equipment and water purification facilities, severe damage to the ability to treat chronic patients, premature infants, the wounded, and more. Additionally, direct hits on civilians have been reported when they arrive to receive medical services and humanitarian aid.

 

A public health crisis of this magnitude carries long-term consequences: disease outbreak, infant mortality and wounded people who could have been saved, severe damage to the development of an entire generation of children, and deepening cycles of poverty, trauma, and radicalization. All of these extend to a situation that is far more than a local humanitarian problem, constituting a health, social, and security threat that endangers the stability of the entire region, and which will also impact the State of Israel, its economic and scientific standing, and the future of its regional and international cooperation. Already, measures are being taken in the European Union that could lead to Israel's exclusion from the Horizon Europe program, due to non-compliance with clauses relating to human rights -measures that would severely damage Israeli research, development and innovation budgets, and Israel's scientific standing in the world.

 

As one who heads the senior body of Israel's scientific community, which includes among its members physician-researchers, researchers in immunology, biology, and food security, I call upon the Government of Israel to act immediately, under close security supervision, to protect civilian lives in the Gaza Strip, to alleviate human suffering there, to re-instantiate the basic health and life infrastructures, including regular flow of essential humanitarian aid, food, water, medical equipment, medicines, and fuel.

 

Along with this, I share in the rage and deep concern of the families of the fifty Israeli hostages held by Hamas for over 640 days, and I mourn the heavy cost in Israeli soldiers' lives from the fighting in Gaza. The responsibility for the lives and health of the hostages rests with Hamas, yet I call upon the government to strive relentlessly to achieve an immediate agreement for their release and safe return home.

 

The State of Israel, which views the sanctity of life as a fundamental value and scientific excellence as a source of national pride, has a moral duty and also a clear security interest in preventing a large-scale health disaster whose consequences will extend for generations.