Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to address a “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in the Gaza Strip.

In a letter addressed to OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Araghchi urged the intergovernmental body to convene an extraordinary session in response to the “rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation” in the besieged Palestinian territory.

“The appalling situation in Gaza has now become one of the gravest crises facing the Islamic Ummah and the international community,” Araghchi said.

“The conditions in Gaza have exceeded the limits of human endurance. What is unfolding is not merely a humanitarian crisis — it is the systematic destruction of a besieged civilian population. The scale and intensity of the crimes being committed call for immediate and coordinated action.”

His letter came as the war-ravaged territory is gripped by famine, with international agencies reporting catastrophic hunger levels—at least 193 people, including 96 children, have died of starvation in recent months—while aid convoys remain blocked or severely restricted by the Israeli regime and more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access food.

“The latest statistics and reports from all reputable humanitarian organizations and media sources indicate that the civilian population of Gaza is facing a situation that can only be described with a single word: genocide,” Araghchi warned.

The Iranian foreign minister also emphasized the need for coordinated delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance and called for an examination of the Israeli regime’s “strategic intent” to permanently occupy Gaza.

“Equally alarming is the mounting evidence of the occupying regime’s unlawful and strategic intent to reoccupy and fully annex Gaza," he said.

"Statements by senior officials of the Zionist regime, along with its military actions and political posturing, clearly indicate the existence of a deliberate plan to erase Gaza’s territorial and political identity through permanent control, demographic engineering, and the destruction of any prospect for Palestinian sovereignty,” Araghchi added.

Araghchi warned that high-ranking Israeli officials have expressed intentions “to eliminate Gaza as a political entity,” saying the move reflects “a strategic design aimed at eradicating Palestinian sovereignty through permanent territorial occupation, forced population displacement, and demographic manipulation.”

He called on the OIC to urgently convene an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah. The session, he said, would aim to coordinate humanitarian aid, assess the legal and political implications of Israel’s actions, and formulate a unified response.

“The meeting should adopt unified, actionable measures — diplomatic, legal, and economic — to stop the aggression, ensure accountability, and reaffirm the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, sovereignty, and return, marking a starting point for restoring justice,” Araghchi said.

Israel launched a US-backed genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the regime's decades-long campaign of death and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s genocidal war on Gaza has so far killed at least 61,158 Palestinians, mostly women and children.