Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the United Nations must put an immediate end to Israel’s brutal aggression against the Palestinians “before it is too late.”
“The opportunity for a political approach is just for today and tomorrow is too late,” Amir-Abdollahian said in a meeting with the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Saturday.
He said the UN should take a swift action at the current juncture as the regime plans to relocate citizens in Gaza.
In a statement released on Friday, Israel’s military ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate the area within 24 hours, in what is viewed as a precursor to a ground invasion by the occupiers.
It called on all people living north of the Gaza Strip, which amount to more than one million, to relocate south, saying the military would operate “significantly” in the city in the coming days and civilians would only be able to return when another announcement was made.
Israel started its onslaught on October 7 after resistance groups launched multi-pronged Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the largest military operation against the occupying regime in decades.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed well over 2,200 people, including more than 700 children, and injured more than 9,800.
Amir-Abdollahian said Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was the outcome of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Pointing to the United States’ contradictory behavior, the Iranian minister said the US called on all countries to exercise self-restraint while it is now supporting the regime in its brutal attacks.
The top Iranian diplomat said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) must act immediately to send humanitarian aid to Gaza.
He also said the UN and the ICRC must push for the opening of a humanitarian corridor into Gaza.
Pointing to reports that the regime has used white phosphorus munitions against desperate people in the tightly-besieged Strip, Amir-Abdollahian urged the UN to set up an investigative team to examine the issue. He voiced Iran’s readiness to support the UN’s political initiatives in this regard.
In a post on X on Thursday, Maha Hussaini, director of strategies at the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor in Geneva, said the regime was “using internationally-prohibited white phosphorus in Gaza.”
The UN coordinator, Wennesland, for his part, pointed to the tragic situation in Gaza and voiced concern over the possibility of spread of war to the region and deterioration of the crisis. The coordinator raised the alarm about the increase in civilian casualties and called for efforts to stop or limit the war in order to send humanitarian aid immediately.
