Iran Urges Global Action to Help Gaza
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s foreign minister called for concerted action by the international community to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aids to the besieged Gaza Strip, which is facing desperate shortage of food and medicine under Israel’s military strikes.
“Unfortunately, due to the blockade of Gaza, the dispatch of humanitarian assistance to that region is difficult, and the international moves are necessary to be intensified to send foodstuff and medical aids to Gaza,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a telephone conversation with President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer on Monday.
Emphasizing the necessity for a prompt delivery of humanitarian assistance to the war-torn enclave, both officials said the ICRC and the Islamic Republic need to coordinate efforts to help the Gazans.
Back on July 18, the Iranian top diplomat had called on his Egyptian counterpart Samih Shukri 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.
Egypt controls the Rafah border crossing, which is the Palestinian enclave's prime gate to the outside world.
Meanwhile, Cairo’s frequent closure of the crossing has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave.
On July 8, Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip. After 10 days of bombardment of the enclave from the air and sea, the Israeli forces started a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
The death toll from 22 days of Israeli onslaught on Gaza has reached over 1,100 and nearly 6,000 have been wounded.
