MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Tehran has called on Cairo to open Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only exit route not controlled by Israel, to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to Palestinians, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tuesday.
“As soon as the Rafah border crossing is opened, wounded women and children will be transferred for treatment to Tehran, and humanitarian and medical aid will flow to the Gaza population,” Amir-Abdollahian said quoted by IRNA.
The politician added that he met Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab Affairs Mohamed Badr Al-Din Zayed and discussed the issue at the Non-Aligned Movement forum in Tehran on Monday. The meeting was productive and important, and the sides agreed there was a need for Muslim and Arab states to make efforts to stop the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, according to Amir-Abdollahian.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israel withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip as a three-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began. Reports said Israeli troops destroyed underground tunnels in Gaza, completing its ground operation.
The ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian groups led by Hamas, reached with Egypt's mediation, began at 8 a.m. local time (05:00 GMT) and is supposed to last for 72 hours.
Both parties are expected to begin indirect talks on the final settlement of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8 to put an end to rocket fire from Gaza. On July 17, following days of fighting, Tel Aviv switched to a ground offensive largely aimed at destroying rocket launchers as well as underground tunnels used by Hamas militants to smuggle arms and secretly enter Israeli territory.
The total number of those killed in course of the four-week long operation has reached 1,800 Palestinians, mostly civilians. A total of 66 Israelis and a Thai worker have also died.
