ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned Israel’s “deliberate” targeting of hospitals, patients and wounded people in Gaza, and called for its accountability over attacks on health infrastructure and other crimes.
The statement came a week after Israeli forces burned Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza and forcefully removed patients and medical staff from the facility, hospital officials said.
In its campaign since Oct. 2023 attacks by Hamas, Israel’s military has targeted hospitals, schools and residential neighborhoods in Gaza, killing more than 45,000 people and forcing hundreds of thousands to migrate, according to Palestinian officials.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, Pakistan’s alternate permanent representative to the United Nations, called the destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last operational major facility in northern Gaza, an “atrocity that shocks the conscience of humanity.”
“The deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, patients and wounded defies every principle of [international] humanitarian law and has no justification whatsoever,” he told a UN Security Council session on the collapse of health services in besieged Gaza.
“Not just condemnation, there must be accountability for these crimes.”
Between Oct. 2023 and Jun. 2024, at least 136 strikes were carried out on 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, according to the Pakistani diplomat. More than 500 health care workers lost their lives due to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
He said 22 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals were rendered non-functional by June 2024 that had left the health care system on “the verge of collapse,” calling for a “decisive action” for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to halt bloodshed and destruction in Gaza and lifting of the enclave’s inhumane blockade to ensure the flow of food, medical supplies and humanitarian aid for those in “desperate need.”
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters.”
The South Asian country has dispatched several relief consignments for Gaza, besides establishing the ‘Prime Minister’s Relief Fund’ that aims to collect public donations for the war-affected people.
Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘deliberate’ targeting of Gaza hospitals, calls for accountability
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Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘deliberate’ targeting of Gaza hospitals, calls for accountability
- The statement comes a week after Israeli forces burned Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, forcefully removing patients and staff
- Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands to migrate since Oct. 2023
Police kill five militants, foil plan to block highway in Pakistan’s southwest
- The militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Mastung district of Balochistan
- Search, combing operations are underway to apprehend accomplices of militants who fled the scene
QUETTA: Pakistan’s counterterrorism police on Monday said they had killed five militants, who were planning to block the Quetta–Sibi highway and target security forces, in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province.
The operation took place in Mastung district when militants affiliated with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) were planning to carry out “subversive activities” against security forces and the public, according to a CTD spokesperson.
CTD received credible intelligence that armed BLA militants had taken positions near Mastung’s Dasht area to block the Quetta–Sibi highway and target security forces and civilian traffic. Acting swiftly on the information, CTD teams moved into the area. The militants opened indiscriminate fire upon sighting CTD personnel.
“During the encounter, five unknown terrorists were shot dead, while other accomplices managed to flee, taking advantage of the rugged and mountainous terrain,” the CTD spokesperson said in a statement.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a separatist insurgency and witnessed a series of high-profile militant attacks last year. In March, the BLA hijacked a passenger train and the siege killed at least 60 people, while in May, a suicide bombing in Khuzdar killed several children on a school bus.
The separatists accuse the central government of stealing their resources to fund development in Punjab. The federal government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan, where China has been building a deep-sea port as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.
Officials found seven hand grenades, five sub-machine guns with live rounds and three motorcycles from the scene, according to the CTD statement.
“Search and combing operations are underway to apprehend the fleeing terrorists and dismantle the remaining network,” it read.
