GENEVA, February 26. /TASS/. The United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are direct participants in the ‘genocide’ taking place in the Gaza Stripl, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said.

"Today the world is witnessing that the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel - TASS) enjoy the unconditional support of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Canada and their other allies. Such support is considered as direct participation in genocide. The UN Human Rights Council should hold the Zionist regime and its supporters accountable for crimes against humanity," the top Iranian diplomat said at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. "The commission of such heinous crimes and genocide should not be allowed to become the norm," the foreign minister added.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.