TEHRAN – The Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament has stressed the need to propose realistic solutions to counter war criminals.
“The Israeli regime and its main supporter, the United States, are directly responsible for humanitarian crimes in Gaza and Palestine, and these acts are considered a blatant violation of human rights and international law,” Hamidreza Hajibabai said at the 151st General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, reacting to the report of the committee tasked with examining Middle East issues.
“Two important points should have been more emphasized in this report: first, naming the Israeli regime and the United States as the main perpetrators of humanitarian crimes in Gaza; and second, the need to incorporate concrete operational proposals to address these perpetrators into the final report,” he added.
Gaza remains in ruins after two years of relentless Israeli shelling that began on October 7, 2023. Despite repeated calls for calm and a ceasefire, sporadic airstrikes and drone strikes continue to claim lives, further complicating reconstruction efforts and the return of displaced people to their homes in Gaza City and Khan Younis.
“Simply identifying crimes is not enough; practical and effective mechanisms must be developed and implemented to deal with the perpetrators of these crimes,” he explained.
The IPU event focused on upholding human norms and supporting humanitarian action in times of crisis, as well as achieving inclusive democracy to achieve a sustainable world.
Last month, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry announced that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The commission’s report said there were reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five acts of genocide, as defined by international law, have been carried out since the start of Israel’s recent war against Gaza. These include killing members of a group and inflicting serious physical and mental harm on them, intentionally subjecting them to conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.
Last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former army minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes in the Palestinian enclaves. The court said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu was criminally responsible for war crimes, including “starvation as a means of war” and “crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other acts of inhumanity.”
The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in the past two years. However, some estimates put the number as high as 350,000. Furthermore, the persistent siege imposed by the regime from the beginning of the war spread disease and starvation throughout the enclave.