Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amar Bendjama, stated on Friday that the Zionist entity’s assault on health infrastructure in Gaza is designed to perpetrate ethnic cleansing and displace Palestinians from their land. He urged the Security Council to take action.
Bendjama characterized the ongoing Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, as having a clear aim: to expel Palestinians from their territory through a manifest policy of ethnic cleansing. “A critical aspect of this policy is the systematic destruction of the healthcare system,” he remarked during a meeting focused on the situation in the Middle East, convened at Algeria’s request as the country holds the presidency of the Security Council for January.
Citing a report from the United Nations Human Rights Office released on December 31, he noted that there have been 136 airstrikes targeting at least 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, resulting in significant damage.
In Gaza, he pointed out, 53% of hospitals are completely non-operational. “Of the 138 primary care centers, only 6 remain fully functional. Additionally, 130 ambulances have been damaged. Over 14,000 patients require urgent medical evacuation abroad, and more than 1,000 healthcare workers have lost their lives, with hundreds detained,” he added.
“Non-governmental organizations report cases of torture and mistreatment of medical personnel. According to the UN, several doctors have died while in detention by the Zionist authorities,” he continued.
He emphasized that the actions of the Zionist forces, targeting essential health services and medical staff, “resemble genocidal tactics.”
On December 27, after more than three months of siege and repeated assaults, the occupying Zionist forces invaded Kamal Adwan Hospital, the largest healthcare facility in northern Gaza. The hospital was subjected to sniper fire, tank shelling, and drone strikes, instilling terror in patients and medical personnel, Bendjama recalled.
He further noted that the conduct of the Zionist forces included acts of torture and executions, destruction of vital medical equipment, and setting fires that devastated parts of the hospital. The Zionist forces “actively sought to render the hospital completely non-operational,” he stated.
Bendjama clarified that the destruction inflicted by the Zionist forces was not driven by military necessity but rather by a “deliberate intention to deprive northern Gaza of essential health services and to compel the population to relocate.”
In this context, he pointed out that the intentional destruction of healthcare infrastructure could be viewed as “an act of collective punishment, which constitutes a war crime under international law.”
Bendjama also referenced the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions and Security Council Resolution 2286, both of which underscore the need to protect medical personnel and healthcare infrastructure during armed conflicts.
To justify its actions, the occupying Zionist authorities claimed that “hospitals were being used for military purposes by armed Palestinian groups.” In response, Bendjama cited the UN Human Rights Office report, which states that these allegations are unfounded and contradicted by publicly available information.
He called for an investigation into the Zionist aggression targeting health infrastructure in Gaza.
The Zionist entity “behaves as if international law is irrelevant or simply does not apply to it,” he asserted, emphasizing that the barbarism of this entity is driven by a “sense of impunity and immunity.” “This impunity must end; this immunity must cease,” he declared emphatically.
“We must unite to put an end to this tragedy. It is time for the Security Council to demand an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” he stressed.
