This year's observance comes up "amid a fragile ceasefire in Gaza" and underscores more than ever the need for fundamental steps to be taken for the reconstruction and sovereignty of Palestine.

PSI has consistently expressed "its strong support for the freedom and self-determination of the Palestinian people, and for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine". This was reiterated at our 31st World Congress in 2023 as Resolution No. 32: For A Free and Sovereign Palestine State. The 31st World Congress, which took place just days after Hamas's terrorist attacks on Israel and the start of Israel's war on Gaza, called on the international community to stop the war and address the root causes of the Palestine/Israel conflict, including the occupation of Palestinian territories.

Alas, this was not the case. What started as retaliatory attacks became two years of war on Gaza, in which over a million people have been displaced with 69,000 Palestinians killed, 20,000 of whom were children. Acts which the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory recently said amounted to genocide. Members of affiliates of PSI were on the frontline of the war struggling to deliver health care, emergency services and all public services they could amid the targeting and decimation of "economic infrastructure, civilian service facilities and health institutions" as the National Coordinating Committee of PSI affiliates in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of Gaza and the West Bank highlighted.

Across the world, PSI affiliates joined the groundswell of solidarity for Palestine and support for ending the war. Leaders and activists from several PSI affiliates joined the flotilla. Now, we must all stand up to support the reconstruction of Gaza with trade union recovery and active involvement, and the sovereignty of Palestine in line with the UN Resolution 181.