TEHRAN – The deputy speaker of the Iranian Parliament has underscored the necessity of putting forward practical solutions to counter war criminals.

“The Israeli regime and its main backer, the United States, are directly responsible for humanitarian crimes in Gaza and Palestine, and these actions are regarded as blatant violation of human rights and international law,” said Hamidreza Hajibabai at the 151th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva in reaction to a report by a committee tasked with reviewing the Middle East issues.

“In this report, two key points should have been emphasized more; first, singling out the Israeli regime and the US as the main perpetrators of the humanitarian crimes in Gaza; and second, the need to incorporate into the final report specific operational suggestions to deal with these criminals,” he added.

Gaza remains in ruins after two years of relentless Israeli bombardment that began on October 7, 2023. Despite repeated calls for calm and a ceasefire in place, sporadic air and drone attacks continue to claim lives, further complicating reconstruction efforts and the return of displaced civilians to their homes in Gaza City and Khan Younis.

“It would not be enough to simply pinpoint the crimes. Practical and effective mechanism should be formulated and implemented to respond to the perpetrators of these crimes,” he explained.

The IPU event focused on safeguarding human norms and supporting humanitarian moves at times of crises as well as achieving all-encompassing democracy to have a sustainable world.

A United Nations commission of inquiry says said last month that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. 

The commission’s report said there were reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of Israel’s latest war against Gaza: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.

Last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former War Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes in the Palestinian enclave. The court said it had “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

Gaza’s health ministry states that at least 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in the past two years. Some estimates, however, suggest the number could be as high as 350,000. Furthermore, disease and famine have spread across the enclave due to a lasting siege the regime imposed since the early days of the war.