Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hopes the solution will be the starting point for further UN crisis management measures.

The World Health Organization has agreed on a resolution, the first from a UN agency, calling for immediate access to vital humanitarian assistance and an end to the fighting in Gaza.

The resolution, which calls for the “immediate, sustained and unimpeded flow of humanitarian assistance, including access for medical personnel,” was adopted by consensus at the end of a special meeting of the WHO Executive Board on Sunday.

It also called on “all parties to comply with their obligations under international law” and reiterated that “all parties to an armed conflict must fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law with regard to the protection of civilians in armed conflict and medical personnel .” ”

The special meeting of the Executive Board was only the seventh in the WHO’s 75-year history.

The adoption of the resolution “underlines the importance of health as a universal priority in all circumstances and the role of health care and humanity in building bridges to peace, even in the most difficult situations,” the WHO said in a statement after the meeting.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is struggling to respond to the worsening crisis in Gaza, which erupted after the Palestinian armed group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and captured more than 200.

In response, Israel declared war on Hamas and subjected Gaza, which Hamas has controlled since 2006, to a relentless onslaught that killed at least 18,000 people.

According to the United Nations, about 80 percent of the population has been displaced and is suffering from food, water and medicine shortages and a growing threat of disease.

On Friday, a resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire introduced by the United Arab Emirates and co-sponsored by 100 other countries failed in the UN Security Council after the United States vetoed the proposal. The US is one of five permanent members of the council with veto power.

The vote came at the request of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Article 99 on Wednesday to formally warn the 15-member council of a global threat from the two-month war.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the U.N. health agency’s resolution could be a starting point for further action.

“It doesn’t solve the crisis. But it is a platform to build on,” he said in his closing remarks to the board.

“Without a ceasefire there is no peace. And without peace there is no health. I call on all Member States, especially those with the greatest influence, to work urgently to end this conflict as quickly as possible.”

Fighting resumed this month after a week-long pause in hostilities that allowed for the release of some Israeli and foreign prisoners in exchange for a number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

As Israel steps up its military operations in the south of the territory of more than two million people, calls for an end to the fighting are growing louder.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is expected to vote on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire as early as Tuesday after Egypt and Mauritania invoked Resolution 377 “Uniting for Peace” following a US veto.

Resolution 377, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1950, allows the 193-member body to act where the UN Security Council has failed “to discharge its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.”

Her letter also referred to Guterres’ invocation of Article 99 of the UN Charter on December 6.