Iran Urges More Active Role by Egypt to End Gaza Crisis
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on Egypt to play a more active role to put an end to the massacre of defenseless people in the Gaza Strip by the occupying Zionist regime.
Zarif, who was talking with his Egyptian counterpart Samih Shukri on the phone on Friday evening, said that Iranians and Muslims’ feelings have been hurt by the brutal crimes committed against the oppressed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Zionist regime and by the deplorable conditions in the coastal enclave.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, who is Vienna for the nuclear talks with the six world powers, called on the Egyptian government to open the Rafah border crossing for the treatment of injured Palestinians and the transfer of the humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.
Zarif also emphasized the necessity for respecting the rights of the Palestinian people as well as resistance groups’ demands in the negotiations that are underway among Palestinian factions in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Rafah crossing is the Palestinian enclave's prime gate to the outside world. Meanwhile, Egypt's frequent closure of the crossing has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave.
Palestinian officials said 65 Palestinians, at least 15 of them under the age of 18, had been killed since Israel sent ground forces on Thursday into the densely-populated enclave of 1.8 million Palestinians.
In all, 307 Palestinians have been killed since fighting began on July 8, Gaza officials said. Most of the dead were civilians, of whom more than 50 were under the age of 18. About 2,260 other people have been injured.