Iran Denounces 'Terrorist Israeli Military’s Attacks' on Gaza Hospitals

"The war on Gaza Strip hospitals and medical facilities is a sorrowful and painful part of the ongoing trend of the terrorist Israeli army's war crimes and genocidal operation against the Strip's population," the Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.

“Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, official reports indicate that 33 hospitals in the strip have been deliberately targeted by the Israeli regime, severely restricting or eliminating their capacity to provide medical services,” Kanaani added.

The spokesperson stated that among the insane crimes of the Zionist regime against hospitals and medical centers in Gaza in the last 24 hours were the ongoing siege of Al-Shifa Hospital and the intensification of Israeli military operations against the facility, which included last night's fire at the hospital's surgical building, besieging and bombing of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis and rendering it incapable of providing medical services, attacking Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and arresting some of the patients and injured people residing there, and beating, arresting, and detaining the medical and healthcare staff.

Israel initiated its offensive against Gaza on October 7, following a retaliatory operation by Palestinian resistance groups into the occupied territories. Since then, the military onslaught has resulted in the deaths of over 32,500 Gazans, predominantly women, children, and adolescents. Additionally, the regime has rendered as many as 33 hospitals in Gaza inoperable during the campaign.

Given the importance of these measures by the Israeli military, Kanaani further stated that the Special Rapporteur of the UN on Palestinian Affairs has issued a warning, stating that the substantial evidence of Israel's atrocities in Gaza over the past six months may keep the International Criminal Court occupied for at least fifty years.

The spokesman referenced Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, who recently stated that the "colossal amount" of evidence of Israeli regime's genocidal crimes in Gaza could occupy the International Criminal Court for "five decades."

The spokesman concluded by questioning whether international institutions were limited to "adopting political stances, issuing statements, or ratifying resolutions," despite the magnitude of the regime's crimes. He emphasized the need for these institutions to take practical responsibility in creating deterrence, stopping the ongoing genocide, and prosecuting the responsible war criminals.