Iran: International consensus exists on necessity of lasting ceasefire in Gaza

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 it was 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.

Israel started its devastating war on Gaza on October 7 following a surprise operation by the Palestinian territory's resistance groups against the occupying regime.

A four-day truce entered into force across the Gaza Strip 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.

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The temporary ceasefire has given Palestinians in the besieged territory a brief respite from Israel’s 7-week brutal war.

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.

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A group of Iranian academic figures and distinguished luminaries have officially condemned the Israeli regime’s brutal aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Swiss official, for his part, expressed concern about the situation in the Palestinian territories, while emphasizing the need for releasing prisoners, providing support for civilians, sending humanitarian aid to the afflicted areas, and preventing further escalation of the Gaza war.

He pointed to consultations that have 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.

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