Third batch of 26 Palestinian students arrives in Pakistan to resume medical studies

Officials from Pakistan’s Health Ministry gesture for a group photograph with Palestinian students arrived from Gaza, in Islamabad on October 18, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Health Ministry)

• Islamabad announced in July that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) will provide scholarships to more than 100 Palestinian students
• These Palestinian students will return after completing their medical education in Pakistan to serve people at home, a Pakistani health official says

ISLAMABAD: A third batch of 26 Palestinian students has arrived in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to continue their studies in the fields of medicine and dentistry, the Pakistani health ministry said on Friday.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced in July that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) will provide scholarships to over 100 Palestinian students so that they can continue their studies in Pakistan.
The initiative, which came amid Israel’s war on Palestine, is a collaboration between Doctors of Rehman, Global Relief Trust and a leading Pakistani non-governmental organization, Al-Khidmat Foundation.
Pakistan prime minister’s coordinator on health, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, warmly welcomed the Palestinian students upon arrival at the Islamabad airport, according to the Pakistani health ministry.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had offered Palestinian medical students to continue their studies in Pakistan in view of the current situation in Gaza,” Dr. Bharath was quoted as saying by the ministry.
“[They] will continue their medical and dental education in various medical institutions of Pakistan.”
More than 42,000 Palestinians have so far been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the Palestinian health authorities. The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 and capturing around 200 others.
“All necessary steps will be taken to provide medical facilities to Palestinian students,” Dr. Bharath said. “[Pakistan] stands with the Palestinian students in this difficult time.”
These Palestinian students would return after completing their medical education in Pakistan to serve people at home, he added.
More than 90 Palestinian students arrived in Pakistan earlier this week via two separate flights to continue their medical studies in the country.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The South Asian country has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.