’WANA (Aug 23) – Following the inhumane action of the Israeli regime in expelling medical staff from northern Gaza and depriving more than one million people of access to healthcare, Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued an official statement strongly condemning this measure and calling for an immediate and effective response from the World Health Organization and international bodies regarding the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

 

The full text of the statement reads:

 

It is impossible to be a physician and, out of commitment and responsibility for human life, remain indifferent to what is happening in Gaza—a place that, for nearly two years now, before the eyes of the world and under the silence of international institutions and so-called human rights organizations, has turned into a scene of genocide and a slaughterhouse for the defenseless people of Gaza! One cannot be part of the global health community and stay silent in the face of attacks on hospitals and medical centers. In its latest inhumane act, with the aim of emptying northern Gaza of its residents and occupying the land, the Zionist regime shamelessly demanded on Thursday, September 21 (August 21, Gregorian calendar), that medical staff evacuate northern Gaza—an action that will effectively deprive one million people of their right to medical care and access to treatment centers. These are human beings who have long been grappling with famine, as well as physical and psychological trauma caused by war and occupation—women, children, and elderly civilians who remain under constant threat of deadly bombardment.

 

On the eve of National Doctors’ Day, Iran’s healthcare system, while honoring and commending the dedicated and responsible physicians who, despite all dangers and threats, continue to serve in Gaza, expresses its solidarity with them and once again strongly condemns the inhumane and unlawful actions of the Zionist regime—particularly against healthcare workers, medical centers, and hospitals in Gaza, and most recently, the forced expulsion and displacement of medical staff from northern Gaza. The continued silence and inaction of responsible international bodies amounts to complicity in such crimes against humanity.

 

Therefore, the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education of Iran, while once again warning of the consequences of allowing such conditions to persist, calls for an urgent, serious, and effective response from the World Health Organization and other human rights institutions to the threats and restrictions imposed on Gaza’s health sector, as well as to the ongoing famine, killings, and insecurity in this region.

 

Dr. Mohammadreza Zafarghandi

Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education of Iran

In 15 months of Israeli attacks 57000 people have lost their lives and 1,413 families have lost all their members due to these attacks on Gaza, with no surviving members remaining. Social media/ WANA News Agency