The Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in an urgent letter addressed to international institutions, called for immediate, decisive and coordinated humanitarian intervention to stop the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Public Relations Department of Radio Salamat, Dr. Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, Minister of Health, expressed deep regret over the catastrophic situation prevailing in Gaza and emphasized in the letter: The scope and purpose of this destruction inflicted on the civilian population, especially children and women, have exceeded the threshold of a humanitarian crisis.
Referring to the collapse of the public health system in Gaza, he described this situation as “the deliberate destruction of the principle of human life” and called on the international community to respond immediately and effectively to what he called “collective punishment, ethnic cleansing and ongoing genocide.”
In parts of this letter, Dr. Zafarkhandi addressed the extremely difficult and painful conditions of the civilian population in Gaza, stating: Many infants are dying in their mothers’ arms due to severe malnutrition and dehydration, and according to statistics, more than 32 percent of children under two years of age suffer from acute malnutrition, which represents the fastest famine rate in recorded history.
The Minister of Health continued by pointing out the endless suffering of women under siege, stating: Mothers are forced to endure stillbirths and abortions in bombed-out medical centers, without anesthesia, electricity, or even water. Also, many women are unable to breastfeed due to anemia and malnutrition, and are witnessing the gradual death of their infants.
He also wrote, referring to famine being used as a weapon of war: Families have been forced to survive on grass, animal feed, and other non-food items. This is while humanitarian aid is being deliberately blocked or destroyed, and the number of deaths from hunger has exceeded the confirmed hundreds.
In this letter, the Minister of Health, while strongly condemning the actions of the Zionist occupation regime, called for a series of urgent measures from the international community. These measures include the establishment of field hospitals and nutrition crisis response teams in cooperation with international partners, facilitating UN humanitarian flights to transport therapeutic food for infants, adopting and implementing binding resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to lift the blockade of food, medicine and equipment, as well as allocating emergency financial and logistical resources within the next 48 hours to implement vital interventions.
In this letter, Dr. Zafarghandi emphasized: “Every hour of delay takes the lives of innocent people, and every day of delay bury another child in the ground.”
He noted that this is not just a request, but a human, moral and professional duty that conscience, humanity and international law have placed on the shoulders of all responsible individuals.
The Health Minister added: "We must respond, not as politicians bound by expediency, but as doctors and human beings tasked with protecting the sacred trust of human life."
