Iran Calls For OKI Countries To Embargo To The Exclusion Of Israeli Ambassadors

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars Media Corporation/Zeinab Hamzalouei)

JAKARTA - Members of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) must impose oil embargoes and other sanctions against Israel, including expelling all ambassadors of the country, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Wednesday.

An urgent meeting of the OIC is underway in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to discuss the increasing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, following an explosion at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday night that killed large numbers of Palestinians.

"The foreign minister called for an immediate and thorough embargo on Israel by Islamic countries, including oil sanctions, in addition to expelling Israel's ambassador if relations with the Zionist regime were established," Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On the occasion, Amirabdollahian also called for the formation of a team of Islamic lawyers to document the potential for war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.

It is known that Iran has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

Palestine and Israel blame each other for the explosion that occurred at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital, where hundreds of people were reportedly killed. In the first hours after the explosion, a Gaza head of civil defense said 300 people were killed, while health ministry sources said the figure was 500.

Previously, the Palestinian Authority's Health Minister, Mai Alkaila, accused Israel of "sacred" at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital, when they carried out intensive bombings against Gaza, which had entered its 11th day.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said targeting the hospital was a "terrible massacre of war," adding "Israel has crossed all red lines."

On the other hand, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the "group" in Gaza that attacked the hospital was not the Israeli military.

"The whole world should know that those attacking hospitals in Gaza are barbaric terrorists in Gaza, and not the IDF. Those who brutally killed our children also killed their own children," said PM Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, Israeli military spokesman (IDF) Rear Admiral Danielwihi told reporters the rocket fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group passed through the hospital at the time of the attack, which he said hit the parking lot of the facility.

On now: The extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee to address the bloody and continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the #Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/uKYGkqYi3B

— OIC (@OIC_OCI) October 18, 2023

On now: The extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee to address the bloody and continuing Israeli against the Palestinian people in the #Gaza Strip.pic.twitter.com/uKYGkqYi3B

In a statement to reporters, shoti doubted the death toll of Palestinians in the attack on the hospital, stating there was no direct attack on the facility. He said footage of military drones showed "a attack on the parking lot."

"The IDF did not attack a hospital in Gaza. The hospital was affected by the failure of the rocket launched by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization", Sayhi said.

He said the military did carry out Israeli air force operations in the area around the time of the explosion at the hospital.

"But the operation used a different type of ammunition that did not match the recording we had (about) the hospital," he argued.

"I don't even know how many people have been attacked here. No one has been able to verify it yet," he continued regarding the death toll.

Another spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told CNN his party intercepted a conversation in which militants admitted a gunshot error.

Israel released footage of drones showing the location of the hospital explosion, which they said showed there were no impact holes from any missiles or bombs, so they were released from responsibility.

The Israeli military later published what it said was an audio recording of a "communication between 'terrorists' talking about a mistargeted rocket".

Separately, Islamic Jihad militant groups denied any rockets involved in the hospital explosion said they had not carried out any activity in or around Gaza City at the time.

Daoud Shehab, spokesman for Islamic Jihad, denied his group was responsible.

"This is a lie and engineering, completely untrue. The occupations are trying to cover up the horrific crimes and massacres they have committed against civilians," he told Reuters.

Prior to the explosion at Gaza hospitals on Tuesday, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died during 11 days of Israeli bombings that began after a Hamas attack on October 7 on the southern Israeli territory, killing 1,300 people and about 200 people being taken to Gaza as hostages.