Iranian delegates walked out of UN climate talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, in protest over the presence of Israeli representatives, Iranian state media reported.
Israel’s presence at COP28 was “contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference and, in protest, it left the conference venue,” Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian said, as quoted by the official news agency IRNA.
The move came only hours after a seven-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas expired and Israel resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
Israel’s war on Gaza and the collapse of the truce agreement dominated the climate talks.
#IRAN: The Iranian delegation withdrew from the United Nations climate conference (COP28) held in Dubai over #Israel's presence, and the Israeli president canceled his speech. pic.twitter.com/CwUf8hJUep
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 1, 2023
Turkiye and South Africa strongly criticized Israel for resuming its airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip.
“While discussing the climate crisis, we cannot ignore the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Palestinian territories right beside us,” Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan told leaders during his speech to the COP28 conference, according to Reuters news agency.
“The current situation in Gaza constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity; those responsible must be held accountable under international law,” Erdogan added.
For his part, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said that “South Africa is appalled by the cruel tragedy that is underway in Gaza.”
“The war against the innocent people of Palestine is a war crime that must be ended now,” Ramaphosa also said.
🚨 AL-JAZEERA: More than 100 Palestinians were killed when Israeli aircraft bombed a house housing families and displaced people in the Jabaliya camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 2, 2023
Over 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across various areas of Gaza since Friday morning, as Israel resumed its aggression after a seven-day truce, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement.
A four-day truce began on Friday, November 24, was extended twice, and ended on Friday, December 1, at 7 am local time today.
Since October 7, over 15,207 Palestinians, including over 6,200 children and more than 4,000 women were killed, with another 40,652 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
