Iran FM: Gaza temporary ceasefire must become permanent

Tehran, IRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said that the Zionist regime’s aggression and crimes must halt and that the temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip must become a permanent one.

Speaking with Al Jazeera news channel, Amirabdollahian said the Zionist regime and the Americans should accept the harsh consequences of a failure to stop the war crimes.

Referring to the temporary ceasefire in the Gaza enclave, Amirabdollahian said that it is important that the Zionist regime’s aggression and crimes must halt and that the temporary ceasefire must become a permanent one. Otherwise, the region will face new conditions.

He noted that today the US has the will to stop Israeli atrocities through a stable ceasefire, send humanitarian aid to Gaza, and prevent the forced displacement of the Palestinian people.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Amirabdollahian said that the Zionist regime failed to destroy Hamas in the past six weeks despite the all-out presence of support of the US and its allied states.

The top Iranian diplomat reiterated that “Hamas is a reality that is rooted inside Palestine. Hamas is part of the Palestinian Resistance. We believe that the Palestinian people and resistance will decide the future of Gaza.”

Amirabdollahian further said that the expansion of the scope of the war in the past weeks was part of a natural reaction of regional resistance forces to the US’ military support for the Israeli massacre of Palestinian women and children.

Iran has no proxy groups in the region, he emphasized, adding that resistance movements are operating to protect the interests of their own countries, preserve regional security, and defend the Arab-Muslim Ummah.

The Zionist regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas conducted Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed over 15,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left vast swathes of the coastal enclave in ruins. An additional 7,000 Palestinians are missing and believed to be under the rubble.

The Zionist regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.