Iran Urges ICRC to Prevent “Humanitarian Disaster” in Gaza
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian official called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to use its influence to stop Israel’s military attacks on the people of Gaza.
“It is necessary for the (International) Committee (of the Red Cross) to take action to prevent a humanitarian disaster, which the people of Gaza are experiencing these days…, by employing all its capacities and facilities,” Brigadier General Seyed Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the missing in action (MIA) search committee of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, said in a letter to ICRC Chief Peter Maurer.
The Iranian commander also deplored the Israeli military assault on the besieged Gaza Strip as “blatant war crimes” that have beset civilians.
Baqerzadeh further called on the ICRC to send a fact-finding committee to Gaza and to dispatch humanitarian and medical aid to the war-torn area via its regional centers across the Middle East.
The ICRC, established in 1863, works worldwide to provide humanitarian help for people affected by conflict and armed violence and to promote the laws that protect victims of war.
Iran’s call on the Geneva-based organization comes amid raging military attacks against people of Gaza by Israel over the past week.
Death toll from the Israeli attacks targeting different parts of the besieged Gaza Strip since July 8 has reached to over 170, with another 1,230 Palestinians wounded.
As the death toll rose, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said most of the victims were civilians, putting their number at more than 130, among them 35 children and 26 women.
It also said Israel had destroyed 147 homes and badly damaged hundreds of others.