BEIRUT: Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned Wednesday that the scope of the Gaza war would expand unless a truce between Israel and Hamas lasts, in an interview as he visited Beirut.
“If this ceasefire starts tomorrow, if it does not continue... the conditions in the region will not remain the same as before the ceasefire and the scope of the war will expand,” Amir-Abdollahian told the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen television channel, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
“We do not seek to expand the scope of the war,” he added, saying: “If the intensity of the war increases, every possibility is conceivable for the expansion of the scope of the war.”
Israel and Hamas said Wednesday they had agreed on a four-day truce in the Gaza war during which the Palestinian militants would free at least 50 of the hostages taken in their deadly October 7 attack.
In turn, Israel would release at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow more humanitarian aid into the coastal territory after more than six weeks of bombardment, heavy fighting and a crippling siege.
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran saw two options: “First, a humanitarian ceasefire that turns into a permanent ceasefire.”
“The second way is to threaten the Palestinian people, then the Palestinian people will decide for themselves,” he said, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu cannot fulfil his dream of destroying Hamas.”
“We support whatever decision Hamas makes,” he added in the interview, according to Fars.
Iran says Gaza war scope will grow if truce doesn’t hold
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Iran says Gaza war scope will grow if truce doesn’t hold
- “We support whatever decision Hamas makes,” says Iranian FM
Israeli authorities force Palestinian family to self-demolish their houses
- Raed Dabash demolished the two dwellings that housed eight people
- Israel regularly denies building permits to Palestinians in Jerusalem, while illegally expanding Jewish settlements in the city and the occupied West Bank
LONDON: Israeli authorities forced a Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem to demolish his home and that of his son in Sur Baher, citing building violations as the reason.
Raed Dabash demolished the two houses that housed eight people, totaling 90 square meters. The Dabash family built their homes in 2014 without obtaining a building permit from the Israeli authorities in the city.
Israeli authorities imposed high building fines exceeding 100,000 shekels (around $32,000) on two houses, part of a policy aimed at restricting residents in Jerusalem, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.
The Palestinian Authority’s affiliated governorate emphasized that the policy of forced self-demolition is a crime of coercion and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, the Wafa news agency reported.
Israel regularly denies building permits to Palestinians in Jerusalem, while illegally expanding Jewish settlements in the city and the occupied West Bank. The authorities often compel Palestinian residents in Jerusalem to demolish their own homes for allegedly lacking permits. Those who refuse face demolition of their homes by Israeli bulldozers and significant fines.
The Israeli government faces charges of war crimes and genocide in the Occupied Territories at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
