It is also a manifestation of the open imposition of force and coercion as well as various internationally known murders and crimes against the original and authentic inhabitants of Palestine by the illegitimate and impermanent Israeli regime. 

These days, not only the inculpable Palestinian women and men as well as unhoused and innocent children are being slaughtered by the Israeli criminals, but hospitals, medical and relief centers, mosques and churches are not spared from the evil of the authorities and troops of this cruel regime.

The mass murder of more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in just six months, alongside repeated prohibition and prevention by the Israeli regime of the delivery of humanitarian aid, food and medicine to the entire Gaza Strip, and the use of hunger as a weapon against the Gaza residents, have set the alarm bells ringing for the occurrence of the most unprecedented human catastrophe of the 21^st century.

It is now crystal clear to all that one of the dangerous objectives of the Israeli regime in imposing a full blockade on the Gaza Strip and preventing the delivery of urgent and sufficient humanitarian assistance to its residents is to create conditions for the social and civil collapse of Gaza and eliminating all signs of life as well as the historical and civilizational identity of Palestine.

Today it is incumbent more than ever to bring to the spotlight of the international community, the United Nations Security Council, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court the elements that prove there is an ongoing genocide and mass murder in Gaza by the Zionist regime. It is now necessary to take effective preventive and punitive actions.  

We have conducted extensive consultations in international forums with the UN secretary-general and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for humanitarian cooperation as well the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to emphasize the necessity of the cessation of hostility and delivery of food and medicine. The UN secretary-general and the president of the ICRC have taken important steps. However, due to the full alignment of the White House and some other Western governments with the Israeli regime, such humanitarian efforts have not yielded appropriate results so far.

It is a great regret that despite the passage of about six months from the brutal attacks of the usurper Zionist regime in Gaza, we are witnessing persistent inaction by the international community and particularly the UN and its Security Council, whose main responsibility is to ensure international peace and security.

The United States is one main side to blame for the continuation of the war and the obstruction of efforts to cease it.    

On the other hand, the OIC was expected to mobilize its various political and economic capacities as well as tools of pressure to play its deterrent role in stopping the war. However, despite holding various meetings, this organization has failed to play an effective role in this respect.

We remain hopeful that because of the efforts of the Muslim states and the practical responsibility of the world community, urgent humanitarian aid will be sent to Gaza to save its oppressed people from starvation and famine before the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

We also hope that with the blessing of this holy month, we will see stronger regional, Muslim and international unity and consolidation and global efforts to support the oppressed Palestinian nation more effectively than ever, and serious, effective and deterrent measures are taken to end continued brutality against the Palestinians.

The whole world is grieving the situation in Palestine and the painful conditions its people are enduring.

We are confident that at this historical moment, all the freedom and peace loving people of the world demand the preparation of the necessary grounds by the international community, especially the UN and Islamic countries, to take practical steps toward lasting peace, guaranteeing the violated rights of the Palestinians and ending the terrible crimes of the Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Believing in the necessity of fulfilling the full rights of the Palestinian nation and ending the biggest and most painful occupation of the present century, the Islamic Republic of Iran has proudly stood by the Palestinian people for decades.

The Islamic Republic, emphasizing the importance of the Palestinian cause as the most important issue of the Muslim world, and the need for the international community to deal with the occupation of Palestine as the real and fundamental root of the crisis in West Asia, believes in the necessity of fundamentally solving this chronic historical crisis and the deep wound on the body and conscience of humanity and the Muslim world.

The World Quds Day, as the initiative of Imam Khomeini, the great founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for the responsible attention of the world to the Palestinian issue, provides a significant opportunity for the fortification of unified and global solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine.

It also aims to condemn the supporters of this criminal regime and is a great opportunity to pay responsible attention to the real roots of the old and painful Palestinian crisis.

The Zionist occupiers and their notorious supporters, focusing on the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation, are seeking to accuse the resistance movement and the Palestinian nation of initiating the ongoing war against Gaza. They clumsily try to divert the world's public opinion from the truth and the cause of the Palestinian crisis, while the root of the crisis lies in the 75-year occupation of the Palestinian territory and the violation of the fundamental, lawful and natural rights of a noble nation.

World Quds Day provides an opportunity to think of a viable, responsible and real solution. Emphasizing the natural and inherent right of the Palestinian nation to legitimately resist oppression and occupation, the Islamic Republic of Iran has responsibly presented a democratic initiative for the Palestinian issue which has been registered in the UN.

Iran believes that the oldest and most painful crisis of the present century in the region and the world can be resolved through a referendum with the help of the UN among the original inhabitants of Palestine, including Christians, Muslims and Jews.

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The writer is the foreign minister of Iran.