WANA (Jul 23) – The Islamic Republic of Iran has issued a stark warning regarding the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. The continuation of the inhumane blockade, the savage bombardment of refugee shelters, and the transformation of humanitarian aid distribution sites into deadly traps for the mass targeting and killing of hungry and thirsty civilians are clear evidence of the cruelty and ruthlessness of the Israeli apartheid regime and its supporters.

 

The killing of over 1,000 innocent people while waiting in food lines, and the death of more than 600 individuals from starvation, marks the height of the Zionist regime’s brutality and constitutes undeniable examples of war crimes and genocide. Meanwhile, 90 percent of Gaza’s territory has become uninhabitable, and 1.2 million of its residents are at risk of dying from extreme hunger.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, expressing deep concern over the escalating humanitarian disaster caused by the horrific crimes of the Zionist regime, strongly condemns the continued killing of Palestinians and the systematic deprivation of the population in Gaza from food, water, medicine, and other essential needs. It calls for urgent, effective, and decisive action by the international community and regional countries to stop the genocide and alleviate the suffering of the oppressed people of Palestine.

The inability of the UN Security Council to fulfill its legal responsibilities in the face of the Israeli regime’s aggression and crimes—due to persistent obstruction by the United States—has emboldened the regime and normalized its acts of cruelty. The all-encompassing military, economic, and political support provided by the United States and certain European countries—particularly Germany—has not only granted the regime virtual impunity but has also enabled more severe crimes aimed at ethnic cleansing and the forced displacement of Palestinians.

 

Those who support and justify the Zionist regime—especially the United States, which not only supplies weapons and political backing but also uses all its leverage to shield the regime from accountability—are complicit in its crimes and must be held responsible.

 

Given the complete collapse of the healthcare system in Gaza and the occupiers’ five-month-long blockade on food and medical aid, the Strip faces a full-scale humanitarian disaster. The genocide of the Palestinian people is being carried out in its most horrific form by the most callous of criminals.

Every government and all international institutions tasked with humanitarian missions—including the Human Rights Council, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF—bear a legal and moral obligation to take urgent and effective action to halt the crimes of the Zionist regime and end the suffering of the Palestinian people. This obligation stems from the UN Charter, international humanitarian law—particularly the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols—as well as the Genocide Convention, all of which reaffirm the duty of all states to ensure adherence to humanitarian norms and to prevent genocide.

 

The moral and religious duty of regional and Islamic countries is also clear. These countries must utilize all available capacities—including within the frameworks of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations—to pressure the Zionist regime’s supporters, especially the United States, to halt the atrocities. They must also act decisively to facilitate the immediate delivery of vital aid—particularly water, food, and medicine—to the people of Palestine, and to hold Zionist war criminals accountable through legal prosecution and punishment.

 

The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms its principled position based on international law in support of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. It underscores the legitimacy of their struggle to liberate themselves from occupation and colonial apartheid, and stresses the need to strengthen solidarity among all countries and freedom-loving, Muslim nations to stop the ongoing colonial genocide in occupied Palestine.