Iran: Political Initiatives Underway for Immediate Temporary Ceasefire in Gaza

Thursday, 02 November 2023 2:19 AM 

Photo: Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks upon return to Tehran from a two-way trip that took him to Qatar and Turkey, on November 1, 2023.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Iran and Qatar are working on political initiatives on establishment of an immediate temporary ceasefire in Gaza as the Israeli genocidal war in claiming more civilian lives.

Amir-Abdollahian said his earlier visit to the Qatari capital Doha featured discussion about the truce in the Israeli regime's war.

The top Iranian diplomat made the remarks upon return to Tehran from a two-way trip that took him to Qatar and Turkey.

"There is talk in Qatar about the idea of truce that could [possibly] lead to extensive transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza," Amir-Abdollahian said.

The brutal war that the Israeli regime has been waging against the coastal territory has so far claimed the lives of nearly 8,800 people, including more than 3,600 children.

The regime launched the war after Gaza's resistance groups conducted Operation al-Aqsa Storm, their biggest operation against the occupying entity, after years of suffering under Israeli repression of occupation.

"Under the aegis of the truce, we will witness exchange of civilian prisoners between the two sides, which includes the release of all female Palestinians prisoners," the Iranian foreign minister said.

The Palestinian resistance, he added, is after the freedom of Palestinian women, adolescents, and children from Israeli prisoners.

Amir-Abdollahian said during his meeting with head of Hamas' Politburo, in Doha, Ismail Haniyeh said the Israeli regime's attacks on Gaza had so far resulted in the deaths of some 50 captives held by the Palestinian resistance.

"Some of these captives were being held in the basement of hospitals that were thought to be safe," Amir-Abdollahian noted.

Some of the victims perished during Israeli airstrikes against the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on October 17 that claimed the lives of at least 500 civilians, he said.

Iran has called on Muslim nations to take “immediate and effective” action to put an end to Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

OIC extraordinary session on Gaza

Amir-Abdollahian also said preparations were underway for leaders of the members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to meet in Saudi Arabia "in near future."

The Iranian foreign minister said the Israeli regime was "madly" bombing civilians, including women and children, "due to the confusion and shock that they have received" from the resistance operation. 

In Qatar and Turkey, Amir-Abdollahian said, he followed up President Ebrahim Raeisi's earlier consultations with the leaders of various Muslim and Arab countries about holding of an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed President Raeisi's proposal for "immediate" convention of the meeting, the foreign minister said.

Amid the prospect of such summit or even a meeting of the world's Arab leaders, the Palestinian resistance would take "appropriate decisions" in case of continuation of the Israeli regime's attacks on Gaza, Amir-Abdollahian said.

The Israeli regime's efforts to enter Gaza by land over the past three days have also been met with failure, he stated.

In a statement on Monday, the OIC said Israel’s relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip constituted war crimes and a flagrant violation of international law, describing the regime’s conduct as "butchering" of thousands of people.