Raeisi slams organized collective punishment of Gaza people

Iranian President Ebrahim Raiesi has slammed the collective punishment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip which he says is being done in an organized manner.

News ID: ۸۰۸۱۸۱

14 November 2023

In a letter addressed to world leaders on Tuesday, Raiesi said that the Israeli regime’s killing of thousands of people in Gaza, including many women and children, its destruction of hospitals, mosques, churches, houses, and critical infrastructure as well as its refusal to lift a blockade that has led to a shortage of water, electricity and food in the enclave amounts to an “intensive and organized collective punishment” of the people in Gaza and is in clear violation of all fundamental principles of the international law.

Raiesi said in the letter that Palestine, as a nation under occupation, is entitled to the right to resist aggression and occupation through all means, including armed struggle, adding that the same international laws do not give the Zionist regime of Israel a legitimate right to defend itself through killing civilians.

He called on world leaders to condemn the crimes committed by the Israeli regime in Gaza and to force the regime to stop its aggression on the enclave.

President Raiesi said the international community has a duty to force the Israeli regime to lift its blockade on Gaza to allow humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and fuel, to reach the people in the territory.

At the end of letter, the Iranian president expressed hope that the Almighty God may save the oppressed Palestinian nation from occupation, aggression and crimes of the Zionist regime.

The full text of President Raeisi's letter addressed to world leaders is as follows:

His Excellency Mr. Mark Rutte

Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Greetings,

Your Excellency,

I am writing this letter to Your Excellency in the context of the continuation of the Zionist regime's brutal attack on the Gaza Strip, which has so far led to the martyrdom of more than 10,000 Palestinian civilians, including about 70% children and women, and the wounding of more than 26,000 others, as well as the extensive destruction of hospitals and schools, mosques, churches, houses and vital infrastructures of Gaza.

These crimes are carried out under the pretext of confronting the actions of Palestinian liberation resistance groups, which, according to the established rules of international law, the Palestinian nation, as a nation under occupation, has the inherent right to self-determination and resistance against aggression and Occupation "by resorting to all means, including armed methods" and on the other hand, according to the same rules, the occupying Zionist regime lacks any right to claim it is "legitimate defense".

These heinous crimes, together with the complete siege of the Gaza Strip and cutting off the flow of electricity, water, food and fuel to that area, are practically a severe and systematic collective punishment that substantively violates all the fundamental principles of international law, especially international humanitarian law and International human rights, and there is no doubt that these crimes are clear examples of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The extent, intensity and cruelty of committing these crimes, and the fact that they have been perpetrated within only one month, especially the brutal killing of several thousands of innocent children, hurt the heart of every free person, and underscore the urgency and necessity of fulfilling the humanitarian duties of all the freedom-loving governments of the world to help the oppressed people of Palestine and the immediate cessation of the crimes of the Zionist regime.

In this regard, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the humanitarian and legal duty of regional and international organizations and all freedom-loving governments requires them to take effective measures to immediately and completely stop the military attacks against the residents of Gaza.

In the same vein, and in addition to strongly condemning the unbridled crimes committed by the Zionists against the oppressed Palestinian nation and resolutely supporting the realization of all the inherent rights of the Palestinian nation, including the right to self-determination, resistance to aggression and occupation, it is necessary and incumbent upon all of us to engage in efforts with the aim to return all Palestinian refugees to their land of fathers and their ancestors and the formation of a Palestinian state in the entire Palestinian territories with Al-Quds Sharif as its capital, to request the relevant international forums to force the occupying regime to immediately stop all its attacks on the Gaza strip and all its illegal actions, including Jewish settlements and killing and arresting of Palestinians in other occupied areas of Palestine; to refrain from any action to forcibly relocate Palestinians inside or outside of Palestine; to push for immediate, complete and unconditional lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip; to provide the ground for immediate, unhindered, widespread and sufficient humanitarian aid in Gaza, especially food, medicine and fuel; to activate pressure levers against the Zionist regime, including cutting off political and economic relations and embargoing its goods; to try to end the impunity of crimes against Palestinians through an effective and serious effort to provide a practical basis for the pursuit, trial and punishment of the leaders, perpetrators and supporters of the crimes of the occupying regime in Palestine and to immediately and extensively help to start the process of rebuilding the ruins of the Gaza Strip.

I pray to the Almighty for the health and well-being of your Excellency and the liberation of the oppressed Palestinian nation from the occupation, oppression, aggression and crimes of the Zionist regime.

Seyed Ebrahim Raisi

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran / MEHR