TEHRAN – A report by the health ministry shows that in the first two weeks of the war, started on February 28, a total of 223 women, 202 people under the age of 18, and 12 kids aged below five were martyred.

Among those wounded, 223 were women, 1,190 were below 18, and 41 were children less than two years old. 

A total of 153 health centers were destroyed; Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (with 42 units), and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (with 19 units) suffered extensive damages by airstrikes, followed by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences,  Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Ilam University of Medical Sciences,  and Chabahar University of Medical Sciences, each with 10 devastated units. 

Even daily care centers affiliated with the Welfare Organization were not secured from assaults as 16  centers were damaged in airstrikes, Mehr news agency quoted Javad Hosseini, the head of the Welfare Organization, as saying. 

Since the beginning of the war till March 14, the United States and Israel have attacked 42,914 non-military units, including 6,179 businesses, and 36,489 houses across the country, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).

Some 10,000 of the damaged houses were located in Tehran. During the same time, the violent attacks severely damaged 160 medical, pharmaceutical, and emergency bases.

Some 120 schools have been destroyed by the strikes directly or indirectly. The aggression has also resulted in the martyrdom of 206 students and school staff. 

In the first two weeks of the war, 17 medical centers, 21 rescue vehicles, including 19 ambulances, affiliated with the IRCS were destroyed. 

Ten IRCS relief workers were wounded while performing their duties, and one was martyred.Moreover, 16 medical workers have lost their lives, and 78 were wounded in airstrikes.

The principle of distinction between civilians and combatants is an important principle of the international humanitarian law; it only justifies targeting armed forces. 

Civilians have to be treated with respect. Even political officials who are not directly involved in wars are not legitimate targets. 

The protection of civilians extends to those who try to help them, including medical staff, humanitarian and relief organizations that are providing essential goods such as food, clothing, medical tools, and parties to a conflict should not violate the law. 

The United States and Israel forces are committing war crimes targeting residential areas, and bombarding health, educational, and sport infrastructures in Iran. 

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said, “Bombing a hospital or school isn’t a miscalculation. Killing a paramedic isn’t  collateral damage. Starving civilians isn’t negotiating tactic. These are war crimes. Full stop. Call it what it is.”