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Iran warns UN refugee chief of 'dangerous' Israeli plan to forcibly relocate Gazans

Thursday, 14 December 2023 10:25 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 14 December 2023 10:31 PM ]

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) meets with Filipo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in Geneva on December 14, 2023. (Photo by IRNA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned the United Nations refugee chief of the Israeli regime's plan to forcibly relocate Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is subject to an unrelenting Israeli war.

The top diplomat made the remarks to Filipo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on Thursday in Geneva, where he attended the Global Refugee Forum 2023 earlier during his stay.

Speaking to Grandi, Amir-Abdollahian expressed concern about the Israeli regime's "dangerous" measures aimed at bringing about an exodus of Palestinians from the northern part of Gaza to the southern parts of the coastal sliver and from there to neighboring countries.

The Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war against Gaza since October 7 following an operation staged by the territory's resistance groups, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm.

Also on Thursday, Gaza's Health Ministry said nearly 18,800 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in the Israeli strikes so far.

Palestinian and other regional officials have warned that through its unbridled aggression, the Israeli regime pursues a policy of resettling the people of Gaza in Egypt.

UNRWA chief warns situation in Gaza remains akin to 'hell on earth'

UNRWA chief has warned that the besieged Gaza Strip remains akin to “hell on earth”.

Amir-Abdollahian urged that the UNHCR and other responsible international organizations refrain from adopting discriminatory approaches towards refugees from various countries and the countries that host them.

He, meanwhile, pointed to the Islamic Republic's hosting of millions of foreign refugees, and the extensive services that the country renders to them, despite suffering from oppressive and unilateral United States-imposed sanctions.