Pakistan urges UNSC for 'decisive' action as Israel targets Gaza's medical infrastructure
Pakistan
Pakistan envoy said targeting the hospitals defies every principle of international humanitarian law
UNITED NATIONS (Web Desk) - Pakistan on Friday 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 spoke, 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 brutal destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital – the last operational major facility in Northern Gaza – is an atrocity that shocks the conscience of humanity,” the Pakistani envoy said.
For over 14 months, he said, the Palestinian people have endured an unrelenting assault on their lives, rights, and dignity that resulted in the killing of over 45,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children as well as uprooting of over 90% of Gaza’s 2.1 million population.
With around 160,000 housing units destroyed, almost the entire population has been rendered homeless. “The scale of this genocidal campaign is staggering, its intent unmistakable,” he said, noting that Gaza’s homes, schools, hospitals, and even its cultural heritage lay in ruins, and even the UN and its personnel have not been spared.
“This is not a war; it is a campaign of dispossession, ethnic cleansing, and annihilation,” Asim Iftikhar said. “The indiscriminate bombing of civilians and the systematic destruction of critical infrastructure are not isolated incidents. They are calculated acts aimed at erasing an entire people from their homeland.”
Despite Security Council resolutions and International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings, he said the Council remains “inexplicably paralysed”, undermining its own authority and credibility.
The ambassador called for “decisive” action 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.
He also emphasized the need for safe and secure humanitarian corridors to allow people to access life-saving care.
Reconstruction efforts must also prioritise rebuilding Gaza’s shattered healthcare system, he said.
He also called for reviving the process to realise the two-state solution based on relevant UN resolutions. “An end to occupation, enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination, and the establishment of a sovereign, independent, and contiguous Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.”
Palestine, he said, must be recognised as a full UN member.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar gave a unity call to the Council members, saying, “The Palestinian people look to this Council for hope, for justice, for the promise of peace. We must not fail them. The bloodshed in Gaza must end. The relentless suffering of innocent men, women, and children must cease.”
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.
“2025 begins on a somber and deeply worrying note as fighting continues to intensify,” he said, highlighting that over 25 per cent of the more than 105,000 injured civilians face life-changing conditions.
Dr. Peeperkorn warned that critical medical evacuations remain extremely slow, with over 12,000 people still waiting for treatment abroad. “At the current rate, it would take five to 10 years to evacuate all these critically ill patients,” he noted.
The WHO has verified 654 attacks on health facilities, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries. “But against all odds, health workers, WHO and partners have kept services going as much as possible,” he noted.
Dr. Peeperkorn called for increased aid, expedited evacuations, and adherence to international humanitarian law, concluding his statement with a plea for an urgent ceasefire.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, told the Council via video link that “a human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world.”
His Office, OHCHR, recently published a report that documents pattern of attacks on hospitals, as well as the killing of patients, staff and other civilians.
He said the attacks begin with Israeli airstrikes, followed by ground raids, the detention of some patients and staff, forced removals and the withdrawal of troops – leaving the hospital essentially non-functional.
“The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides, at all times,” he stressed.
Turk said the destruction of hospitals across Gaza goes beyond depriving Palestinians of their right to access adequate healthcare. These facilities also provide sanctuary for people with nowhere else to run.
He said the destruction of the Kamal Adwan hospital last Friday – the last functioning hospital in North Gaza – reflects the pattern of documented attacks.
“Some staff and patients were forced from the hospital while others, including the General Director, were detained, with many reports of torture and ill treatment,” he said.
He reported that across Gaza, Israeli military operations in an around hospitals have had a terrible impact precisely at a time of massive demand for healthcare.
“They have been particularly devastating for certain Palestinian civilians. Six babies have reportedly died of hypothermia in the past few days alone,” he said.
Dr. Tanya Haj Hassan with the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), shared the perspectives of health workers in Gaza “who’ve been sending SOS messages to this Council for over a year”.
Dr. Haj Hassan said she has taught at medical schools and hospitals in the enclave, getting to know many workers well: “Despite being under siege, they were astoundingly able to build an extensive healthcare system, provide high-quality medical care to patients, and nurture excellent medical education for the growing generation of doctors,” she said.
“They are proud hardworking professionals who take their oath to care for their patients very seriously.”
Since last October, “healthcare workers have become a clear target of Israel’s military violence,” she said, noting that more than 1,000 have been killed.
“They tell us that they are targets because they are healthcare workers; that wearing scrubs and white coats is like wearing a target on their backs…because hospitals and healthcare workers represent life and a will to keep people alive.”
