TEHRAN – In a diplomatic move on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held urgent calls with counterparts from Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Iraq, and Tunisia, demanding immediate collective action to break the Israeli regime’s "genocidal siege" of Gaza, where starvation now kills as swiftly as bombs.

The consultations, following similar talks with Saudi and Bangladeshi officials, come amid UN warnings that over 1 million Gazans face catastrophic famine conditions while Israel systematically blocks aid.

Araghchi’s talks centered on mobilizing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for an emergency session to coordinate a unified response.

In calls with Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, whose country currently chairs the UN Security Council, and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, Araghchi condemned Israel’s "deliberate deprivation of water, food, and medicine" as a tool of annihilation.

"The global community must end this impunity," he insisted, urging Dar to leverage Islamabad’s Security Council role for binding measures.

With Egypt’s top diplomat, Araghchi warned that Israel’s annexation plan for the West Bank constitutes a "roadmap for Palestine’s colonial erasure." Both ministers agreed: without decisive intervention, a regional catastrophe looms.

Similar urgency marked discussions with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, where Araghchi stressed that "starving civilians is a war crime." He demanded that Israeli officials face prosecution for atrocities.

Iraq’s Fuad Hussein and Tunisia’s Nabil Ammar echoed calls for immediate aid corridors. Araghchi pressed all counterparts: "Islamic nations must deploy every legal, political, and humanitarian instrument to stop this genocide."

A manufactured hell

The diplomatic blitz responds to an engineered catastrophe.

Since October 2023, the Israeli regime’s blockade and bombardment have claimed the lives of more than 59,700 Palestinians — the majority being civilians, including over 16,500 children.

However, this figure does not account for additional deaths resulting directly or indirectly from Israeli actions, such as those still buried beneath rubble or individuals who have perished due to the systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure.

In addition, hospitals report 115+ starvation deaths since March, including infants and adolescents perishing from malnutrition-induced complications.

Compounding this, Israel’s total siege since March has choked 99% of aid. UN agencies confirm 470,000 Gazans now face "catastrophic" (IPC Phase 5) famine – one in five residents. Acute malnutrition among children has surged 300% since May.

Meanwhile, 97% of Gaza’s water is unfit for human consumption. UNICEF reports that children queue for 8 hours daily for contaminated puddles; families survive on only 3% of their minimum daily water needs. Israel’s deliberate destruction of reservoirs and desalination plants has collapsed the water system.

Despite global outcry, Israel has enforced a near-total blockade since March, funneling minimal aid through the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—a secretive, Mossad- and Israeli War Ministry–funded scheme reportedly backed by an undisclosed $100 million donor and approved amid resignations and deadly distribution chaos.

The program herds civilians into tightly controlled, biometric-tracked “sterile zones” in southern Gaza that critics liken to concentration camps and has become what UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini labels a “sadistic” killing field: Israeli snipers have allegedly shot more than 1,000 aid-seekers near GHF sites, while a U.S. contractor reports guards shooting at civilians’ feet and tossing stun grenades into starving crowds.