Iran welcomes halt to Gaza genocide but warns about Israel’s history of breaking ceasefires

Addressing reporters at his weekly press conference on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran’s main demand is an end to the crimes in Gaza and its blockade, as well as the provision of humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged people there.

"The experience in our region over the past few decades, including the Zionist regime’s ... lack of commitment and the frequent violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon, with more than 4,500 cases of ceasefire violations, requires those who are concerned about peace to be vigilant so that the [Israeli] regime will not repeat its long-standing habit of breaking promises and committing criminal acts,” he added.

He noted that the recent ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and Israel was reached after 700 days of the regime’s continuous genocide in Gaza and the imposition of famine on the Palestinians.

Iran has explicitly announced its stance on the agreement that aims to put an end to the Israeli regime’s attacks, he said.

Baghaei noted that Iran carefully evaluates the opportunities and threats that may arise from developments and stressed that the war in occupied Palestine must ultimately end.

“Iran ... can both counter any threat appropriately and create an opportunity from within a challenge,” the Iranian spokesperson pointed out.

The ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Friday morning after Zionist regime and Hamas agreed to the first phase of the 20-point peace plan brokered by US President Donald Trump, with the next phases still to be negotiated.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas on Monday released 20 living Israeli captives, who were handed over to the International Red Cross in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas published a list of the living captives being freed, who had been held in Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli regime’s genocidal war on October 7, 2023.

The package includes nearly 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and roughly 1,700 people detained during the recent assault on Gaza, according to families and officials.

'Regional challenges to continue until Palestinians’ rights restored'

Baghaei said the occupation and oppression inflicted by the Israeli regime on the people of Palestine are the root cause of the problem known as the “Palestinian issue” in the world.

The Tel Aviv regime has subjected Palestinians to oppression since its inception and even before that, starting from 1947 and earlier, he noted.

"Therefore, as long as ... the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination is not addressed, we will unfortunately continue to witness problems in the region and, somehow at the global level,” the Iranian spokesman emphasized.