More than 160 Iranian university figures have urged the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to take measures condemning Israeli crimes against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and refer Israeli regime to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Security Council.

“As you know, we are witnessing the Zionist regime's widespread strikes, using the most sophisticated weapons, against Palestinians and particularly Gazans. A number of women, children, schoolchildren and students have been martyred through these strikes,” the Iranian universities and academicians said in their Monday statement.

“Since these acts amount to genocide and war crimes, universities in the Islamic Republic of Iran expect that in light of obligations and criteria thereof (global conscience, legislation, supervision, intellectual center, defender, investigator, tribunal, fact-finding, insightful diplomacy), the perpetrators of these crimes be referred to the UN Security Council, the International Criminal Court in the Hague, and other UN and Human Rights Council mechanisms be used for appropriate action at the earliest,” they noted.

The plea was made as the UN Human Rights Council announced that it would hold a special session on Thursday on the “grave” situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the deadly Israeli aggression on the Gaza.

The session, which marks the 30th extraordinary meeting of the UN's top rights body, was requested by Pakistan as the coordinator of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Palestinian authorities.

Leaders of Palestinian resistance groups have already expressed appreciation for Iran's support during the latest chapter of barbaric Israeli military aggression against the coastal enclave.

Israel launched the bloody bombing campaign on Gaza on May 10 after harassment of Palestinians in Jerusalem al-Quds and attempts to steal their lands in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the city.

The occupying regime announced a unilateral ceasefire on Friday, which was accepted by the Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza with Egyptian mediation.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 248 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive, including 66 children and 39 women, and at least 1,910 were injured.

During the fighting, Gaza-based resistance factions fired rockets into the occupied territories in response to the Israeli bloodshed.