By Abdul Jabbar Aburas
BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said Sunday that the international community must bear responsibility for the "massacres" being committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Sudani’s remarks came during his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who paid a short visit to Baghdad, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
The prime minister’s media office said in a statement that "during the meeting, developments in the escalating events in the Gaza Strip were discussed, and the need to contain the crisis and ensure that it does not expand was emphasized."
The deteriorating humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people was also discussed, and the importance of coordination to deliver food and water and medical care and other required assistance to meet their humanitarian needs was stressed.
Al-Sudani reiterated “Iraq's clear and principled position of rejecting the Zionist aggression against Gaza and the necessity of an immediate cease-fire and the opening of the crossings to avoid the worsening humanitarian catastrophe, which has claimed the lives of civilians, (including) women and children,” the statement said.
He pointed out the importance of "the international community bearing its responsibility regarding the massacres committed daily by Israeli forces against innocent women and children, the targeting of hospitals and shelters, and the continued approach of escalation and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people."
Blinken meanwhile affirmed "the United States' endeavors to work to deliver humanitarian aid to the population in the Gaza Strip."
He pointed out "his country's government's desire to continue bilateral coordination and cooperation with Iraq in order to enhance regional and international stability," according INA.
The agency quoted an informed source as saying that Blinken left Baghdad immediately after the end of his meeting with Al-Sudani.
The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip has risen to 9,770, the Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave announced Sunday.
“The death toll as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 is 9,770, including 4,800 children and 2,550 women,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli army has expanded its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since the Palestinian group Hamas launched a cross-border attack against Israel on Oct. 7.
Besides the large number of casualties and massive displacements of people, basic supplies are running low for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents due to the Israeli siege.
*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat