Iran's foreign ministry on Friday condemned Israel’s planned military takeover of Gaza as part of a broader strategy to forcibly displace Palestinians, accusing the Jewish state of pursuing a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The Israeli military “will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said early Friday after the Israeli security cabinet approved the move.
Later in the day, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said the takeover plan is "yet another indication of the (Israeli) regime's clear intent to commit genocide in occupied Palestine."
"Threats of total occupation of Gaza by the criminals ruling the historic land of Palestine... are further proof of the Zionist regime’s specific intent to carry out ethnic cleansing in Gaza and genocide against the Palestinian people," Esmail Baghaei said.
The United Nations Security Council will meet in a rare weekend session on Saturday to discuss the Israeli takeover plan, AFP reported citing three diplomatic sources. Several members of the Security Council had requested the meeting that will be held at 1900 GMT, the report said citing a member of the Council.
Tehran has also officially requested the Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as Saudi Arabia as the host country and Turkey as the current chair of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the ongoing Gaza crisis, according to Baghaei.
"Compelling Israel to halt the genocide and ensure the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to the starving and thirsty people of Gaza is a vital step to ending a catastrophe that has shaken the legal, normative, and moral foundations of human civilization," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday.
The Israeli military is currently building up troops and equipment near the border with Gaza, which would support a possible new ground invasion of the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, NBC News reported citing commercial satellite images
Critics inside Israel have warned that seizing control of the whole coastal enclave would put the remaining hostages held by Hamas at greater risk, deepen Israel’s military involvement in the war and lead to even more civilian casualties in Gaza, where famine is already looming.
Several rights groups including two inside Israel have labeled Israel's campaign in Gaza a genocide, a label Israel and the United States strongly reject.
US President Donald Trump has expressed concern at images showing starving Gaza civilians but diplomatic efforts toward a ceasefire have stalled.
