Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says there is an international consensus on the need for the establishment of a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after being under a genocidal war by the Israeli regime for about seven weeks.
The top diplomat made the remarks in a phone call with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis on Monday.
Amir-Abdollahian pointed to a forthcoming foreign ministerial meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Palestine, which has been scheduled for Wednesday.
“There is an international consensus on the priority of lasting cessation of [Israel’s] attacks on Gaza and the [occupied] West Bank, lifting of the [Gaza] blockade, dispatch of humanitarian aid, including medicines, food, and fuel, and preventing forced expulsion of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” Iran’s foreign minister said.
The Israeli regime started its devastating war on Gaza on October 7 following a surprise operation by the coastal sliver’s resistance groups against the occupied territories.
A four-day truce entered into force in the territory on Friday, and was extended for two more days past its expiry on Monday.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a report on Monday that more than 15,000 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s genocidal war before the truce took effect. It added that the figure included 6,150 children and 4,000 women, with more than 33,000 others injured.
Besides its incessant and indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza during the war, Israel cut off the flow of basic supplies, such as water, electricity, medicines, and fuel into one of the world’s most densely-populated territories that houses over two million Palestinians.
Ever since the onset of the war, the regime has also escalated its aggression across the West Bank, killing hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied territory.
The Swiss official, for his part, expressed concern about the situation across the Palestinian territories, while emphasizing the need for releasing prisoners, providing support for civilians, sending humanitarian aid to the afflicted areas, and preventing escalation of the conflict.
He pointed to consultations that had taken place on the part of his country to protect the lives of civilians as well as the efforts made to realize a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
Cassis expressed hope that the underway truce in Gaza would be extended for a longer period of time.
