Ayatollah Sistani Slams Zionist Crimes in Gaza, Demands Immediate End to Siege

The office of Grand Ayatollah Sistani issued a statement Friday night, urging urgent and coordinated efforts to stop the mounting atrocities in the Gaza Strip.

The statement denounced the Israeli regime for imposing a strangling blockade on Gaza, cutting off food, water, and medical supplies, and creating famine conditions for over two million people.

“After nearly two years of relentless killing and destruction that have left hundreds of thousands dead or wounded, and devastated cities and residential areas, the oppressed Palestinian people in Gaza are now enduring horrific conditions,” the statement declared.

It described the situation as a deliberate campaign of mass starvation targeting children, the sick, and the elderly—part of the occupiers’ broader plan to depopulate Gaza and erase Palestinian presence.

Ayatollah Sistani underlined that such inhuman barbarity is expected from a regime founded on occupation and apartheid, but what is shameful is the silence and complicity of so-called international defenders of human rights.

He said Arab and Islamic nations bear a moral and religious duty to take firm action against the Zionist regime and force it and its Western backers to immediately open all crossings for humanitarian aid.

“Rather, they must redouble their efforts to end this tragedy and do everything within their power to compel the Israeli regime and its supporters to allow the swift entry of food and essential supplies for innocent civilians,” Sistani said.

He added that the heart-wrenching images of starving children and dying patients, broadcast around the world, should haunt the conscience of humanity.

“No person with a trace of conscience can enjoy even a sip of water or bite of food while Gaza suffers,” the Ayatollah stressed.