Pakistan slams Israel for targeting Gaza’s medical infrastructure

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan denounced Israel’s “deliberate” targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, patients and the wounded as Israeli military forces press on with their war in Gaza, and called for “Independent and transparent” investigations into its attacks on health infrastructure and other war crimes.

“Impunity must end,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, alternate permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council which met in emergency session on the collapse of health services in besieged Strip.

In this regard, he underscored the need for ensuring that perpetrators are held to account.

Friday’s meeting was called by Algeria, the leading voice for the Arab world on the Council which has just taken the gavel as president for the month of January. Senior official from the World Health Organization (WHO) Rik Peeperkorn briefed ambassadors alongside High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk. Dr. Tanya Haj Hassan with the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), also poke, sharing the perspectives of healthcare workers

In his remarks, the Pakistan envoy said that the deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, patients and the wounded defies every principle of international humanitarian law and has no justification whatsoever.

“Not just condemnation, there must be accountability for these crimes,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar said, delivering Pakistan’s first statement in the 15-member Council as the country took its seat on the world’s body’s power centre as non-permanent member on January 1.

He said that the deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, patients and the wounded defies every principle of international humanitarian law and has no justification whatsoever, adding there must be accountability for these crimes, not just condemnation.

Between October 2023 and June 2024, at least 136 strikes were carried out on 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, with over 500 healthcare workers losing their lives, it was pointed out. By June, 22 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals were rendered non-functional, leaving the healthcare system on the verge of collapse.

The ambassador called for “decisive” action to for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to halt the bloodshed and destruction in Gaza and lifting of the enclave’s inhumane blockade to ensure free flow of food, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid for those in desperate need.

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Briefing the Council, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative for the West Bank and Gaza called attention to the dire health crisis in Gaza, where seven per cent of the population have been killed or injured since October 2023.