TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baqai has condemned the ongoing killings and blatant human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank.
He categorically condemned the continued blockade of Gaza and Israel’s blockade operation aimed at clearing debris from the Gaza Strip, saying it was hampering the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip’s health network and critical infrastructure, intensifying the humanitarian disaster during the cold and rainy season.
Baquai accused the move of being part of Tel Aviv’s policy of genocide against Palestinians.
Despite a so-called ceasefire taking effect in October, Israeli forces continue to carry out sporadic bombing of Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians in the past few weeks.
More than 80 percent of structures have been destroyed, leaving large areas of the besieged territory uninhabitable, and the situation is expected to become more catastrophic with the onset of winter. Aid flows remain slow and insufficient.
According to a recent report, Gaza may have the highest concentration of unexploded ordnance of any conflict zone in the world, posing a significant and persistent threat to civilians even after Israel’s artillery campaign against the besieged coastal area subsides.
According to the British news magazine The Economist, there is considerable danger beneath the rubble and Israeli occupation forces have deployed a number of bombs with delayed-acting fuses there. These explosives can detonate unexpectedly within collapsed buildings or underground spaces days, weeks, or even months later, posing significant challenges to removal efforts and potentially endangering returning families.
Baquai also cited the increasing number of attacks on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the continued arbitrary arrest and torture of Palestinians, saying the international community “has a legal and moral obligation to stop Israeli crimes.”
He also referred to the full military and political support given to the Israeli regime by the United States and some European governments, and accused the United States of being an “accomplice” in Israel’s crimes.
In the latest wave of violence, Israeli forces have killed and wounded several young Palestinians in separate raids in the West Bank.
Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing security sources, reported that Israeli soldiers shot and killed 15-year-old Jihad Jumaa Jadallah during a raid on Farah refugee camp, south of the city of Tubas, on Sunday night. Officials added that the military prevented paramedics from contacting him to provide medical assistance. Jadallah, a ninth-grader at Al-Fala Boys’ Basic School run by the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA), died of his injuries on the same day, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Earlier, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that its members also treated an 18-year-old young man who sustained shrapnel injuries to his lower legs during the Israeli army’s invasion of Farah camp. Ambulance teams were unable to reach the third injured person, who was later detained.
Separately, Israeli forces killed Hassan Sharkashi during a raid on the Askar refugee camp east of Nablus, PRCS announced.
Among the most heartbreaking cases was that of six-year-old twins Yahya and Nabila Al Sharbashi, who were seriously injured when they mistook a bomb abandoned in the ruins of their neighborhood for a toy.
Aid groups have highlighted the grave dangers children face in Gaza’s densely populated settlements.
Several Israeli officials believe the regime must permanently occupy both Gaza and the West Bank.