Iran speaker urges Muslim unity to stop ‘biggest genocide in history’

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has called on Muslims to strengthen unity and echo the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, who are being subjected to an Israeli genocide.

He made the remarks after Friday prayers at the Istiqlal Mosque in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, where he attended the 19th high-level parliamentary meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC).

“Today, it is our Islamic duty to stand together in unity and not allow the global arrogance to continue the biggest genocide in history,” he said.

“Today, the people of Gaza, including children, women and patients, expect us to be by their side. They want us to be the voice of the oppressed and not leave them alone in these difficult days.”

Israel waged its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, but it has failed to achieve its declared objectives despite killing at least 53,010 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring more than 119,998 others. 

The usurping entity accepted longstanding negotiation terms by the Hamas resistance group under a Gaza ceasefire, which began on January 19. However, Israel violated the truce on March 2, cutting off humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Just over two weeks later, the regime resumed its relentless bombing and redeployed troops to the besieged territory.

Qalibaf said that Israel does not even allow medicines to reach patients in Gaza, where Muslim children fear being killed by Israeli attacks, as well as by hunger, lack of water and famine.

Today, he noted, the world’s Muslims and freedom-seeking people believe in a call by the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini to stand against the “cancerous tumor” of Israel.

He also emphasized that Iranians have always supported the Palestinian people and that they will never stop doing so despite pressure and threats.