Top Muslim parliamentarians to meet in Tehran to discuss Gaza

TEHRAN,July 21(MNA) – The Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union troika is scheduled to hold a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss Israel’s relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, Iranian MP Kazem Jalali said in a press conference on Sunday. Jalali, a veteran MP sitting on the Iranian Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, stated that the international community has kept silence over the Zionist regime’s criminal acts in Gaza. Ali Larijani, the Iranian parliament speaker and the head of the Islamic Inter Parliamentary Union, deemed it necessary to make the Palestinians voice be heard by the world and decided to hold the meeting, Jalali said. He said that the parliament speakers of Sudan, Mali, Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Palestine have expressed readiness to attend the meeting. A Lebanese parliamentary delegation is also scheduled to attend the meeting, he added. He also noted that Iran has invited parliamentary delegations from Algeria, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Malaysia and Indonesia. The parliament speakers plan to discuss the current situation in Palestine in general and the Gaza Strip in particular, Jalali said. On July 8 the Israeli Air Force started a mass military assault on Gaza. The Israeli military also started a ground offensive in Gaza on Friday. According to Al Jazeera, thousands of Gazans fled eastern district of Shujayea as heavy bombardment from the Israeli army continued into Sunday morning, with the Palestinian death toll over the last 13 days reaching 400. The Palestinian enclave was hit overnight with the heaviest barrage of tank shells since the beginning of Israel’s offensive.