Israel cutting off Gaza’s water, electricity amounts to collective punishment, systematic war crime: FM Amir-Abdollahian

“The continuation of and an increase in war crimes in Gaza, its blockade and targeting of residential areas, hospitals and schools, as well as cutting off its water and electricity, amount to collective punishment and a systematic war crime,” Amir-Abdollahian said in a phone call with his Emirati counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday.

He warned that the persistence of such a situation would further complicate the conflict, adding that the Israeli regime is accountable for the ensuing consequences.

Israeli energy minister Israel Katz said on Monday that he had instructed authorities to cut the water supply to the Gaza Strip.

“All the water supply pipes from Israel to the Gaza Strip have been disconnected,” he added.

The top Iranian diplomat censured Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and the regime’s tightening of the siege, urging Muslim and Arab countries to support the Palestinian people.

Pointing to Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on Gaza, which have killed and wounded many Palestinians, the top Iranian diplomat reiterated Iran’s call for an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip launched large-scale Operation al-Aqsa Storm against Israel on Saturday. According to Israeli media outlets, the death toll from the Hamas attacks has risen to 1,300 while the number of those injured exceeds 3,300.

The Emirati minister, for his part, stressed the importance of unanimous support for the Palestinian people and civilians in Gaza in the face of Israel’s brutal attacks.

Nahyan said the United Nations and the International Red Cross should fulfill their duties to support the people of Gaza and create safe passage of the wounded out of the territory.

He noted that he would raise the issue of an OIC emergency session with Arab countries.

In another telephone conversation with Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian held Israel accountable for the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip as trapped residents are cut off from food, water and electricity, voicing Iran’s readiness to send humanitarian aid to the region.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,200, with around 5,600 wounded, Palestinian media reported earlier, citing Gaza’s health ministry.