Geneva, December 15 (RHC)-- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned the United Nations refugee chief of the Israeli regime's plan to forcibly relocate Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is subject to an unrelenting Israeli war.   The top diplomat made the remarks to Filipo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on Thursday in Geneva, where he attended the Global Refugee Forum 2023 earlier during his stay.

Speaking to Grandi, Amir-Abdollahian expressed concern about the Israeli regime's "dangerous" measures aimed at bringing about an exodus of Palestinians from the northern part of Gaza to the southern parts of the coastal sliver and from there to neighboring countries.  The Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war against Gaza since October 7 following an operation staged by the territory's resistance groups, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm.

Also on Thursday, Gaza's Health Ministry said nearly 18,800 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in the Israeli strikes so far.  Palestinian and other regional officials have warned that through its unbridled aggression, the Israeli regime pursues a policy of resettling the people of Gaza in Egypt.

Amir-Abdollahian urged that the UNHCR and other responsible international organizations refrain from adopting discriminatory approaches towards refugees from various countries and the countries that host them.   He, meanwhile, pointed to the Islamic Republic's hosting of millions of foreign refugees, and the extensive services that the country renders to them, despite suffering from oppressive and unilateral United States-imposed sanctions.

The foreign minister emphasized Tehran's demands for support from the United Nations in light of the situation.