Iran Foreign Ministry: World Must Fulfill Commitments to Palestinians, End Israel's Apartheid Policies

Saturday, 19 February 2022 2:59 PM

Press TV 

Israeli policemen try to clear Palestinians and activists gathering to demonstrate in the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, on February 18, 2022. (Photo by AFP)

Iran says the international community and global organizations must fulfill their "legal and human" commitments to the Palestinian people and put an end to the apartheid policies of the child-killing Israeli regime.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Saturday condemned the Israeli regime's racist policies forcing the Palestinian people living in the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to leave their homes.

He expressed his solidarity with the Palestinian people as the main and true residents of this ancient land and the cradle of divine religions.

The Iranian spokesperson stressed the need to support the Palestinian people and stop the demolition of their homes and the confiscation of their lands which are a continuation of the apartheid policies of the child-killing Zionist regime.

Tensions heightened across the Palestinian territories late last week when Israeli forces and illegal settlers renewed their attacks against Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. The neighborhood has been the scene of frequent crackdowns by Israeli regime forces on the Palestinians protesting against the threatened expulsion of dozens of families from their homes in favor of Israeli settler groups.

The initial tensions that erupted in Sheikh Jarrah last year in part sparked a May 2021 war between the Israeli regime and resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Thursday warned Israel against crossing “red lines” in Sheikh Jarrah or any other area in the occupied al-Quds.

A senior official from the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas has warned Israel against crossing “red lines” in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah or any other area in the occupied al-Quds.

The Palestinian Information Center cited senior Hamas official Basem Na’im as saying that the crossing of Hamas’ red lines in Sheikh Jarrah, al-Aqsa Mosque, or any other area in the occupied al-Quds would have “serious repercussions.”

'Global action needed for defense of Palestine, al-Quds'

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Saturday called for active participation locally and globally in the International Quds Week.

Hamas in statement called on Muslims to actively attend the event, which is scheduled to be held from February 25 to March 4.

It hailed the global initiative in support of al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque as the focal centers of the fight against the Zionist enemy and support for the Palestinian cause.

Hamas also called for an active attendance in such events to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to defend their land and sanctities, including al-Quds and Aqsa Mosque.

According to the statement, the movement called on the masses of the Palestinian people, the Arab and Muslims nations, ulema and the elites, official, partisan and popular institutions and all free peoples across the world to participate actively in such important events by all means possible.

Israeli forces place the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah under a near-complete lockdown.

It said the International al-Quds Week is an opportunity to renew allegiance to al-Quds and Aqsa Mosque, strengthen the Palestinian cause and keep alive the cause of Palestine's liberation.

Defending al-Quds and Aqsa Mosque and protecting them from the danger of the Israeli regime's occupation, aggression and crime is a common responsibility agreed upon by the Arab and Muslim nations, scholars and leaders of countries, peoples as well as institutions and organizations, it added.

Hamas praised the heroism of the Palestinian people in al-Quds and the Aqsa Mosque, who bravely fight every day the Zionists' aggression and the settlers' terror in the cities and neighborhoods of al-Quds, including Sheikh Jarrah and the Bab al-Amud.