India reiterates call for cease-fire in Gaza

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - India on Monday reiterated the call for a cease-fire in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

“Our stance on West Asia has been consistent and firm over a long period of time. We have explicitly condemned acts of terrorism and at the same time, as the conflict has grown and, in a sense, expanded, we have called for a cease-fire, and release of hostages,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in New Delhi.

He noted there is a “particularly serious humanitarian situation which has developed, and we have accordingly called for a humanitarian corridor for access to humanitarian aid."

“Also for guarding against an expansion of the conflict that would pull more and more actors and make the issue more complicated to resolve, it is important to get back to dialogue and diplomacy,” he added.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,600 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 99,800 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.