Iran's President Ebrahim Raeisi has criticized the silence of the world's leaders in the face of the Israeli regime’s horrendous crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, calling for efforts to end bombardment of the territory.
Raeisi made the remarks in a Saturday phone call with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during which the two sides discussed bilateral relations and the latest developments related to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"We believe that the silence and inaction of the world's leaders and officials only embolden child-killing Zionist rulers [of Israel]," the Iranian president said.
He added that various countries, including Japan, must make diplomatic endeavors in pursuit of four important priorities, which include "putting and end to Israel's bombardment of Gaza, sending humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, lifting the siege of the territory, and restoring the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people."
The Israeli regime launched its brutal war on Gaza on October 7 following a surprise operation by the territory's resistance movements.
More than 15,200 people have so far been killed in Gaza with over 40,000 people wounded. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 70 percent of victims of Israeli strikes on the blockaded territory are women and children.
Thousands more are missing and feared buried under the rubble.
On Friday, the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, sounded a strong alarm about the toll being exacted on children in Gaza as a result of the war, which it called a "war on children."
