Sayyid Badr bin Hamad al Busaidy, Foreign Minister, on Sunday received a phone call from Dr Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The ministers exchanged views on the continuation of the Israeli military aggression against Gaza Strip, causing more civilian casualties, and the destruction of public facilities, hospitals and schools.
Sayyid Badr and Dr Hossein also discussed regional and international efforts to achieve a humanitarian truce and allow relief organisations to carry out their missions, to treat the injured and deliver highly needed life-saving supplies to the population in Gaza Strip and repair demolished vital utilities.
The two ministers stressed the need to give priority to diplomatic and political action to activate the international law for restoring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
They laid emphasis on the importance of terminating the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and establishing an independent Palestinian state. They underscored the futility of expanding the scope of the current brutal war waged by the Israeli occupation forces which, they said, have to bear its legal consequences.
Meanwhile, Sayyid Badr received a phone call from Ayman al Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate of the Kingdom of Jordan.
During the telephonic conversation, the two ministers reviewed the latest developments of diplomatic and political efforts aimed at halting the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, in addition to achieving a truce that would allow the flow of humanitarian and relief supplies to the injured and people in Gaza.
The two ministers also touched on the danger of continued military escalation and the worsening humanitarian situation, in addition to the grave regional challenges that are expected to be discussed at the extraordinary Arab Summit that will be hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this month.
EVACUATIONS
Efforts were under way on Sunday to resume evacuations of injured Gazans and foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, suspended since Saturday after a deadly ambulance attack, Egyptian, US and Qatari officials said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded an immediate Israeli ceasefire at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah, while health ministry said dozens died in a strike on a refugee camp overnight.
Blinken, who has dismissed the idea of a ceasefire by Israel, was making an unannounced visit to the occupied West Bank as part of efforts to prevent the war spreading.
The Rafah crossing to Egypt’s Sinai peninsula is the only exit point from Gaza not controlled by Israel. Aid trucks were still able to travel into Gaza, two Egyptian sources said.
Evacuations began last Wednesday under an internationally brokered deal. More than 300 Americans have left Gaza, but some still remain, Jonathan Finer, deputy national security adviser, said.
“We believe it will (reopen) this afternoon,” a senior US State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Don’t hold me to it,” the official added.
At the Maghazi refugee camp refugee camp in Gaza, people searched for victims or survivors.
“All night I and the other men were trying to pick the dead from the rubble. We got children, dismembered, torn apart flesh,” said Saeed al Nejma, 53, adding that he had been asleep with his family in their house when the blast hit his neighbourhood.
A spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza Strip said the Israeli military had struck the camp overnight, killing at least 47 people. In a separate attack, 21 Palestinians from one family, including women and children, were killed in Israeli strikes overnight, the health ministry said.
