Iran Offers to Host OIC Quds Committee Meeting over Gaza

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a telephone conversation with Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Iyad Madani on Sunday discussed the latest developments in Palestine, specially Gaza, and voiced Tehran’s readiness to host an OIC Quds Committee meeting to discuss ways to put an end to the Israeli atrocities in the besieged enclave.
During the telephone conversation, Zarif felicitated the OIC chief on the advent of Eid al-Fitr, and underlined the need for the adoption of proper actions by the international bodies to stop Israel’s aggressions against the defenseless Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran is ready to host the upcoming meeting of the OIC’s Quds Committee to find ways to put an end to the Israeli attacks against the Palestinians.

Zarif noted that priority should be given to the dispatch of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and called on the international community to help dispatch of food and medical aid to Gaza.

Madani, for his part, congratulated Zarif on Eid Al-Fitr, and thanked Iran’s support for the people in Gaza as the head of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

The OIC chief voiced his organization’s readiness to continue consultations with influential Muslim countries at regional and international levels in support of the Palestinian people, specially to halt Israeli aggressions on Gaza.

During the phone conversation, the two sides also reiterated joint efforts by OIC’s influential countries to support the will of the Palestinians in lifting the siege of the Gaza Strip, and open the Rafah border crossing.

Israel has been pounding the blockaded Gaza for 20 consecutive days, killing at least 1,050 people and injuring more than 6,000 others.

An elementary school packed with hundreds of Palestinian evacuees seeking shelter under UN protection came under heavy Israeli fire Thursday, leaving 17 people dead and more than 200 wounded, including women, children and infants.