Tehran, March 3: Iranian Vice President Javad Zarif, who resigned Sunday night for the second time since his appointment in August last year, said on Monday that he took the decision on advice from the head of the country’s judiciary to help relieve pressure on the administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Zarif wrote in a post on X on Monday that he had visited Iranian Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei on an invitation by Mohseni Ejei on Saturday. During the meeting, he said, Ejei had advised that given “the conditions of the country, I return to (teaching at) the university to avoid more pressure on the administration.”

Zarif said he took the advice immediately because he had always wanted to be “of help and not a burden”.

He said he hoped that by leaving the administration, those hindering the realization of “the people’s will and the success of the administration” would be stripped of excuses.

“I continue to be proud of having supported the venerable Dr. Pezeshkian and wish him and other true servants of the people the best,” he said, the official news agency IRNA reported Monday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has received Zarif’s resignation letter, is yet to respond on the matter.

“Since he was tapped as the Vice President, Zarif has been taking intense heat from a group of lawmakers in Parliament who have argued that his appointment to a sensitive post is illegal because at least one of his children holds US nationality. According to Iranian law, individuals who hold foreign citizenship or whose immediate family members hold such citizenship cannot be assigned to sensitive posts in the Iranian government,” IRNA reported.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported that a number of Iranian lawmakers had been following up on his “illegal” appointment to the post since the beginning of the administration’s term.

Pezeshkian appointed Zarif, a former foreign minister, as Vice President for strategic affairs and head of the Centre for Strategic Studies, in August 2024.

However, Zarif resigned 10 days after his appointment because he was “not satisfied with the result of his work” as head of the steering council that selected the new Iranian administration’s cabinet members.

He later withdrew his resignation after Pezeshkian’s “prudent” follow-ups and consultations.

Cairo, March 3: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed the importance of fully and faithfully implementing the ongoing ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, stressing the necessity of transitioning to the second phase of the deal to ensure a lasting truce.

“Since the first phase has been completed, we should now begin discussions and consultations on the second phase. The ultimate goal is to sustain the ceasefire agreement,” Abdelatty said at a joint press conference in Cairo with European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica.

Abdelatty condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to stop the entry of aid to Gaza. He said that using aid as a weapon of collective punishment and starvation in Gaza is unacceptable and impermissible, affirming that this act represents a blatant and explicit violation of international humanitarian law, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Egyptian top diplomat emphasised that Egypt is actively coordinating with the US and Qatar, hosting delegations, and intensifying discussions to ensure the agreement’s implementation, maintain the ceasefire, and facilitate humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza.

“We continue our intensive efforts to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and to initiate negotiations on the second phase,” he told reporters.

He also reiterated that the establishment of a Palestinian state is the only viable path to long-term security and stability in the region.

He emphasised Europe’s crucial role, both politically in maintaining regional peace and economically in supporting the upcoming reconstruction of Gaza.

Israel and Hamas have been implementing a ceasefire agreement since January 19, following more than 15 months of a deadly conflict in Gaza. The first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended on Saturday.

Hamas has said it was ready to open negotiations on the second phase, but Israel presented a new framework that would extend the first phase until after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover, which ends on April 20, describing it as an outline of US envoy Steve Witkoff. Under the proposal, Hamas would free half the hostages on the first day, with the remaining captives freed at the end of the period if a permanent ceasefire is achieved.

Gaza, March 3: Amid widespread devastation and family losses, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip welcomed this year’s holy month of Ramadan with heavy hearts and weary bodies, following 15 months of Israeli assault on the besieged enclave.

While Muslims around the world welcomed Ramadan with prayer and festivity, the scene in Gaza tells a different story.

Gaza’s streets, once vibrant and full of life, now lie in ruins. The rubble of destroyed homes stands as a haunting reminder of the devastation, while the air is thick with the smell of gunpowder, death, and decay.

With the first phase of the ceasefire between Palestinians and Israel having ended on Saturday and no sign of a second phase, Gazans now live in heightened anxiety, fearing the war could resume at any moment, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Every day that passes without shelling brings a sense of relief. But at the same time we live in fear that the attacks will start again,” said Om Mohammed al-Najjar from Khan Younis, southern Gaza. She lost her home in the recent bombardment.

“We have suffered enough. Ramadan should be a time of peace, but here, there is no peace,” she said.

Mohammed Al-Dahdouh, a 45-year-old father of four from Gaza City, recalled how his family joyously decorated their home with lanterns and vibrant colors. The kitchen would be filled with the delicious aroma of maqluba and qatayef, traditional Middle Eastern dishes, and laughter would echo throughout the house.

“Ramadan used to mean family gatherings around the iftar table, the sound of children’s laughter, and the smell of food filling the house,” Al-Dahdouh told Xinhua. “Now, there is no home, no table. We are crammed into a small tent, and the food we have barely suffices,” he added.

“We cling to life because we have no other choice. We are people who love life, and we have the right to live in peace and safety,” he said.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia, Suzanne Abdel-Ati strolls between the tents standing on open land, exchanging greetings with her new neighbours, most of whom are displaced like herself.

“During the war, the army killed my entire family, and now I am left with only two children,” Abdel-Ati told Xinhua.

She recalled the days when her family would gather each night to break the fast. “Now, they lie beneath the earth,” she added quietly.

Tasaheel Nassar, a Palestinian woman from Rafah city who lost her husband, brothers, and parents in an Israeli airstrike, told Xinhua, “The holy Ramadan month has lost its spirit here in Gaza. There are no lanterns, no decorations, no bustling markets. Instead, there is death’s silence and the ever-present smell of destruction.”

“Our loved ones are gone, and we no longer have the strength to carry on,” she said, adding, “The pain is constant, and now it is worse because the holy Ramadan month brings memories of the family I lost.”

Some Gazans choose not to surrender. Thirty-five-year-old Arkan Radi from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, along with his friends, has hung some Ramadan decorations in their tent.

“We know that the decorations won’t change our reality,” Radi says, “but they are a message that we are still here, still holding on to life, even in the darkest times. It’s not a solution, but I want to bring some hope and joy to my children.”