Kazem Gharibabadi, who is Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, made the appeal in four identical letters addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, President of the UN Economic and Social Council Bob Rae, Chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women Abdulaziz M. Alwasil, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.

“The presence of the criminal Zionist regime, which as per international human rights authorities, independent UN experts and independent human rights activists has turned Gaza into a slaughterhouse for civilians, particularly women and children, in the UN Commission on the Status of Women, whose nature is to promote the rights of women and girls and to prevent violence and discrimination against them, is an end to the credibility of international institutions and expectations of their efficacy during crises and humanitarian threats,” Gharibabadi wrote.

He drew attention to the published statistics about the scale and dimensions of the Zionist regime’s vicious crimes against civilians, especially women and children, in Gaza and Lebanon, wondering how such a major violator of human rights could remain in an international body that monitors, supports, and promotes the rights of women and girls.

More than 44,000 people have been killed and over 104,000 others injured in Gaza, and as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in its report on November 8, nearly 70% of the fatalities are women and children, and about 80% of the victims died during attacks on residential buildings and similar structures, Gharibabadi pointed out.

“The child-killing Zionist regime kills a child in Gaza every 10 minutes. More than 17,000 Palestinian children have been so far martyred as a result of this brutal massacre, and more than 255,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have lost their fathers or mothers.

“Furthermore, hundreds of babies have lost their lives shortly after birth due to the indiscriminate bombardment of residential areas, hospitals, schools, internally displaced persons (IDPs) tent camps, and destruction of healthcare facilities,” the Iranian diplomat said.

MNA/Press TV