Aref urges int’l community to press Israel for immediate halt to Gaza genocide
Over 120 Palestinians, including 83 children, starve to death
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on Thursday that the “blatant genocide” taking place in the Gaza Strip must be immediately stopped through “binding and practical” measures by the international community.
"The death of innocent people from hunger, due to the Zionist regime’s obstruction of food delivery to the oppressed people of Gaza, has been met with the disgraceful silence of international bodies claiming to advocate human rights,” he said in a post on X.
Aref underlined that the “perpetrators of this crime against humanity” must be held accountable.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone conversation with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Friday emphasized the necessity of utilizing all available means to “break the siege of Gaza, deliver essential supplies to its people, and put an end to the genocide in occupied Palestine."
The Iranian foreign minister also condemned a recent motion passed in the Israeli parliament that seeks to annex the West Bank and Jordan Valley, describing it as yet another sign of the occupying regime’s expansionist nature.
“This action, coinciding with the genocide in Gaza and the ongoing grave violations of human rights in the West Bank, lays bare the sinister intentions of the Zionists to pursue the complete annihilation of Palestine as a land, nation, and independent identity."
Humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate under the Israeli blockade.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 122 Palestinians, including 83 children, have starved to death in the territory since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023. Most of the deaths have been in recent weeks.
Tons of food, clean water, medical supplies and other items sit untouched just outside Gaza as humanitarian organizations are blocked from accessing or delivering them by Israel.
Israel, which controls all supplies, food, medicine and fuel entering Gaza, has imposed a punishing blockade for months.
In recent weeks, more than 1,000 desperate people have been killed trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near aid distribution centers, according to the United Nations.
Gaza will run out of the specialized therapeutic food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children by mid-August, UNICEF and humanitarian agencies said.
Doctors Without Borders, a global medical charity also known by its French acronym MSF, said on Friday that a quarter of all young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its clinics in Gaza last week were malnourished. It blames Israel’s “policy of starvation.”
The Gaza Strip is currently experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in its history. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has waged a devastating war on the enclave, and since March 2, has completely sealed off all crossings, blocking the entry of food, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid.
The closure has caused acute malnutrition, especially among children and the sick. Famine conditions have been reported in multiple areas, with aid organizations warning that time is running out to prevent mass deaths from starvation.