Iran Warns of Israeli Plan to 'Eradicate' Palestine, Calls for Urgent End to Gaza Blockade

Friday, 25 July 2025 3:43 PM

The combo photo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

Iranian foreign minister has warned that Israel seeks to “eradicate” Palestine as a nation and identity, calling for urgent international action to lift the devastating Israeli blockade that has left Gaza in a state of humanitarian collapse. 

Abbas Araghchi made the statements in a phone conversation on Friday with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. 

The Iranian minister stressed the urgent need to activate all available capacities, including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other international mechanisms, to end the siege, deliver essential aid, and halt the genocide in occupied Palestine.

He added that Gaza is suffering from a disastrous situation as a result of the escalation of the Israeli regime’s crimes, especially the blockade of food and medicine and depriving the oppressed people in the besieged territory of food and water.

The comments come as Gaza’s Health Ministry announced on Friday that at least 122 Palestinians, including many children, have died from starvation since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023. Most of these deaths have occurred in recent weeks.

Israel’s Weaponization of Food

The World Assembly of Islamic Awakening slams Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, tons of humanitarian aid remain stuck at Gaza’s borders, as Israeli authorities continue to restrict entry. Limited aids are distributed at US-backed GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Fund) centers, where Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 Palestinian aid seekers and left more than 5,000 others injured in the past few months.

The Iranian foreign minister also slammed a motion passed in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) that seeks to illegally annex the West Bank and Jordan Valley, describing it as another sign of the regime’s “expansionist and lawless nature”.

"This action, simultaneous with the genocide in Gaza and the continued gross violation of human rights in the West Bank, reveals the Zionists’ sinister intentions in pursuing the complete eradication of Palestine as a land, nation, and independent identity,” Araghchi emphasized.

He reiterated that the firm stance of the OIC and most countries in the world in condemning such an Israeli action would be “very important and meaningful".

On Wednesday, Knesset lawmakers voted 71-13 in favor of the motion, a non-binding vote which calls for “applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley” – the Israeli terms for the Palestinian territory.

The move, coinciding with both the Gaza genocide and ongoing human rights violations in the West Bank, reveals more than ever the fact that “this regime has no goal other than the complete annihilation of Palestine as a land, nation, and independent identity,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a Thursday statement.

The top Iranian and Saudi diplomats pointed to the importance of taking practical and immediate measures to help the people in Gaza and put an end to the Israeli regime’s crimes against Palestinians and discussed ways to make use of regional and international capacities, including the OIC and joint Islamic-Arab mechanisms, in this regard.

The Saudi foreign minister expressed his country’s readiness to help achieve such goals.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli attacks have killed at least 59,676 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. The ongoing aggression has leveled large swaths of Gaza, internally displacing almost all of the 2.2 million population.