Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned what it called Israel’s violation of the Gaza ceasefire, after the Israeli military said it struck a car in the enclave that had entered a restricted area, killing 11 members of a Palestinian family.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops fired warning shots before hitting the vehicle when it continued to approach “in a threatening manner.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei called the incident a violation of the ceasefire with Hamas and urged governments that brokered the truce to ensure its enforcement.
Israel’s actions, including the continued closure of the Rafah crossing, he said, "represented serious breaches of international obligations."
Gaza officials said the victims, including seven children and three women, were members of the Abu Shaban family, who were returning to their home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood on Friday when their vehicle was struck.
Hamas described the attack as a “deliberate crime against civilians." The Gaza Civil Defense agency said the bodies were later recovered with the UN's help.
The IDF said the car had crossed into the so-called Yellow Line — a buffer zone separating Israeli-held areas from the rest of Gaza — and refused to stop after warning shots.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his country's military would install clearer physical markers along the boundary to prevent future incidents, warning that “any violation of the line will be met with fire.”
Baqaei urged the international community to act to stop what he called further civilian deaths and to secure access to food and humanitarian aid for Gaza’s population.
The ceasefire mediated in early October by the United States, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar put an end to over two years of Israeli attacks on Gaza, which started in response to Hamas's October 7 attack.
Gaza’s media office says Israel has breached the ceasefire with Hamas 47 times since it took effect, leaving 38 Palestinians dead and 143 others injured.
The event titled "Human Rights in Iran After the Islamic Republic" was hosted by the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization, which said its goal was to foster a “respectful and neutral space” for discussion among diverse opposition voices.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi told the gathering that building an effective coalition for change in Iran required agreement on concrete principles rather than abstract ideals.
“Using broad terms like democracy and freedom as a basis for unity has not worked,” she said. “We must ask what kind of democracy we want, define what we mean by freedom of expression, and see where we truly agree.”
Iranians should not fear transition, Ebadi added, rejecting comparisons between a post–Islamic Republic future and the turmoil that followed the 1979 revolution.
“People should not be afraid of change.”
Respectful dialogue among opposition groups
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, told Iran International that the Oslo meeting for the first time invited representatives from a range of political parties and civic movements opposed to the Islamic Republic.
“The aim is not to form a new alliance or enforce political uniformity, but to enable respectful dialogue among all groups on the foundations of human rights,” he said. “Whatever form the next political system takes, all Iranians must enjoy equal rights.”
Recognizing diversity was essential to preventing the return of authoritarianism, Asso Hassanzadeh of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan said. “The key to avoiding future tyranny is political justice and acceptance of plurality.”
Abdullah Mohtadi of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan told the conference that any transition must follow today’s international standards.
“It should not turn into bloodshed or political revenge,” he said. “Transitional justice must be based on global norms.”
Fouad Pashaie, secretary-general of the Constitutionalist Party of Iran, said democracy starts today, warning that decades had already been lost.
“Every political group that cares about a united Iran must now cooperate, despite differences,” he said, stressing that opposition efforts should focus on how to end the Islamic Republic without allowing it to rebrand itself under a new guise.
The conference continues Sunday behind closed doors with addresses by party representatives and policy experts.
Iranian opposition figures have stepped up calls to rally against Tehran following a punishing 12-day war with Israel in June, but there have been no significant protests.
Iranian exiled prince Reza Pahlavi urged unity among Iran's opposition during a pro-monarchy conference in Munich in July, saying the Islamic Republic's downfall would lead to sustainable peace and prosperity in the Middle East.
Later that month, Maryam Rajavi, the leader of exiled opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran, vowed the armed ouster of its decades-old nemesis the Islamic Republic and the founding of a democratic, non-nuclear state in its place.