DaysofPal- Civilians covered in dust, blood-stained school bags, hospitals turned into military targets, these stark scenes in Iran are hauntingly familiar to Palestinians who witnessed similar destruction in Gaza. Many Iranians now say the devastation in Tehran mirrors the suffering they once observed on their screens during Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
“If this war continues for a few more days, nothing will remain of Tehran,” said Hamed, 31, speaking from the Iranian capital. “The scenes I see remind me of films and photos from Gaza. Back then, we never imagined facing a fate similar to theirs.”
For Palestinians, the attacks on Iran reflect patterns seen during Israel’s prolonged military campaign in Gaza. Muhammed al-Khaldi, a 32-year-old teacher from Gaza, described the enclave as a testing ground for what Israel could do elsewhere.
“The world allowed it to act without restraint,” he said. “Now, they know they can commit similar crimes in other countries.”
Targeted Attacks on Schools
On the first day of the war in Iran, 28 February, a double-tap strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, southern Iran, killed at least 168 people, including first responders and sheltering survivors. Days later, two schools in Parand, southwest of Tehran, sustained heavy damage from missile strikes.
Residents expressed shock at the repeated targeting of educational facilities. “The school in our alley has been attacked several times. Thank God schools are closed, but why should a school be attacked? Where will these children go once the war ends?” said Shirin, 46, a Tehran resident.
Palestinians recall similar experiences in Gaza. On 10 August 2024, the Israeli military bombed al-Tabaeen school in eastern Gaza City, killing around 100 people, including women and children, during dawn prayers.
Areej Muhammed, 34, a mother from Gaza, said, “Schools were targeted constantly. Even after the ceasefire, my daughter cannot attend school. The attacks aimed to destroy Gaza’s education system.”
According to UNICEF, over 97 percent of Gaza’s schools were destroyed or damaged, and 92 percent of all educational facilities require full reconstruction. Since 7 October 2023, around 18,911 school-age children and 794 teachers have been killed in Gaza.
Healthcare Under Siege
Attacks on hospitals further underline the similarities between the conflicts. In Iran, at least 18 medical facilities, including 13 hospitals, have been struck since the war began. Tehran’s Gandhi Hospital lost its IVF department, devastating families relying on stored samples.
Gaza experienced comparable destruction. Israel destroyed al-Basma IVF Centre in December 2023, wiping out nearly 4,000 frozen embryos and about 1,000 additional samples. Today, Gaza’s healthcare system faces near-total collapse, with 94 percent of medical facilities damaged and no fully functional hospitals remaining, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Manar al-Batrikhi, 29, described fleeing bombed hospitals with her sick child in Gaza. “Even after moving south, we could not find proper treatment for his severe malnutrition. They have destroyed the medical system as a whole,” she said.
Similar devastation has occurred in Israel’s latest offensive in Lebanon, where more than 800 people have been killed and 31 medical staff targeted over the last two weeks. In Iran, four medical workers have died and 25 have been injured during US-Israeli strikes.
Sara, 34, from Mashhad, described repeated attacks on local hospitals and the impact of Israeli-affiliated media narratives: “First, they create the narrative, many people believe it, and eventually it mirrors what happened in Gaza’s hospitals.”
At least 1,444 civilians have been killed in Iran in the first two weeks of the conflict, while over 4,100 Palestinians were killed in the same initial period during Gaza’s war.
Sara reflected on the broader regional implications: “Now, little by little, everyone is realizing that, for Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza are all treated the same.”
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