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Middle East conflict

Israel intends to eliminate Palestinian people, says Iran's foreign minister

Hossein Amir Abdollahian said effective measures should be taken to prevent any aggressive Israeli actions against the Palestinians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan

DUBAI, March 13. /TASS/. Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip are evidence of an intentional "policy of total elimination of the Palestinian people and their identity," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has said in a letter he sent, in particular, to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of the UN Security Council Yamazaki Kazuyuki (of Japan).

In the message, uploaded to the official Telegram channel of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Abdollahian pointed out that Israel, by preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and establishing a complete blockade of Gaza, intends to "wipe out all signs of Palestinian life and identity" and forcibly expel the residents of the enclave and the West Bank to neighboring countries.

"This approach shows that this criminal regime is deliberately pursuing a policy of total elimination of the Palestinian people and their identity," Abdollahian said.

The Iranian foreign minister said effective measures should be taken to prevent any aggressive Israeli actions against the Palestinians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. 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 announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank of the Jordan River as well.

Israel continues to hit targets in the Gaza Strip, although Ramadan began at sunset on March 10. From March 3 to 7, consultations by representatives of Egypt, Qatar, the US and Hamas were held in Cairo on the terms of a ceasefire in Gaza. On March 5, Al Arabiya TV reported that the participants in the consultations were trying to agree on a humanitarian pause for at least the first week of Ramadan.

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