Iran condemns Zionists' crimes in Gaza, West Bank, blasts West's hypocrisy over human rights

In a statement on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the Zionist regime’s crimes include the targeted assassinations of journalists, deliberate attacks on medical personnel and healthcare centers, and incursions by extremist settlers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

He added that all countries are obliged to take action to put an end to Israel’s policy of using starvation and famine as a means of genocide.

The Iranian spokesperson criticized the inaction by some Western countries, including Britain, Canada, Germany and France, on Israel’s “blatant and systematic” violation of human rights in the occupied Palestine.

These Western countries’ silence vis-à-vis the Zionist regime’s crimes is a clear sign of their hypocrisy regarding human rights and the rule of law, he emphasized.

Baghaei noted that all countries also shoulder a shared responsibility to prevent and counter Zionist regime’s heinous crimes, including genocide and war crimes, based on the international law.

He said the Zionist regime’s impunity has further emboldened it to press ahead with the martyring of the Palestinian people and occupation of Palestine.

He called on all nations, especially Muslim countries, to stand in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people to stop further massacre of innocent women and children.

The Zionist regime’s military launched a surprise aerial assault on the Gaza Strip on March 18, martyring over 1,000 people, injuring more than 2,000 others, and shattering the ceasefire agreement with Hamas and the deal on the exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners.

UN Secretary General António Guterres on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the human toll resulting from the intensified hostilities in Gaza.

In his daily press briefing, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that large-scale Israeli shelling and ground operations have resulted in widespread destruction and the displacement of more than 100,000 Palestinians from Rafah in the past two days alone, most of whom have been displaced multiple times.