The Parliamentary Union of Islamic Countries (PUIC) Presidential Troika said in a closing statement on Tuesday “the Zionist regime’s military invasion of the Gaza Strip is the flagrant manifestation of genocide, oppression and intentional destruction of infrastructure, in which hundreds of defenseless civilians including children, women and elderly, have been martyred and thousands of others wounded. War and anti-humanitarian crimes and mass killings of Palestinians carried out through Israel’s military ground and naval invasion as well as airstrikes was tantamount to blatant violation of international law. The blockade of the Palestinian nation, particularly in the Gaza Strip, is a gross violation of human rights,” the statement further noted, calling for “an immediate removal of the siege and opening of all crossings, in particular the Rafah crossing.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an address to the meeting “the Israeli regime has blatantly violated international human rights regulations in the Gaza Strip. The Zionist regime [of Israel] used the most advanced armaments and flagrantly carried out ground, air and sea aggression on the Palestinian land.”
Also Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said at the opening meeting that Israeli regime become the ‘real symbol of war crimes’ due to its deadly offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip. “The massacre of women and children and people in Gaza and the new Gaza siege are nothing but war crimes and a violation of human rights,” the chairman of the conference added.
The Iranian Parliament speaker further expressed regret that the US and some Arab states are keeping silent vis-a-vis Israel’s crimes and are supporting “this atrocious regime.”
Speakers form Mali, Sudan, Turkey, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria and Iraq in addition to a parliamentarian delegation from Lebanon and Algeria attended the event in Tehran.
They called on the international community to take action to halt Israel’s atrocities. PUIC Troika Plus emergency meeting on situation in Palestine and aggression on Gaza was held on Tuesday by Iran's call.
Over 600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Tel Aviv’s offensive and above 4000 more injured.
During the past 15 days, Israeli warplanes have been hitting numerous sites in the Gaza Strip, demolishing homes and burying families in the rubble. Israeli tanks also began a ground offensive against the impoverished Palestinian land on July 17.
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