A senior Iranian commander says if Israel continues intercepting humanitarian aid for Gazans, Iran will adopt an alternative approach.

After an Iranian ship, carrying food and medicine, was stopped 20 miles off the coast of Gaza, Brigadier General Mir-Faisal Baqerzadeh, Head of the Foundation for the Remembrance of the Holy Defense, hit out at Israel for committing a "war crime"

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention on Rules of War relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War adopted in 1949, Israel is obliged to provide "every facility for making application to the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Society of the country where they may be, as well as to any organization that might assist them".

The Iranian commander called on international organizations to take essential measures to facilitate the supply of humanitarian aid and material relief to the embattled Gaza Strip.

The current humanitarian crisis in Gaza -- hundreds of dead civilians, overflowing shelters, and an acute shortage of food supplies -- stems in part from a long-running feud between aid groups and Israel.

Aid groups say supplies were scarce even before the start of war on Dec. 27 because of Israel's 18-month blockade of the territory.

Relief agencies complain that their stockpiles of food, fuel and medicine for Gaza has been repeatedly blocked by Israeli officials who are still reluctant to open border crossings to allow emergency shipments into the Strip.

"Israeli reluctance to let aid into the Gaza Strip is conclusive evidence of their war crimes, and under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the International Committee of the Red Cross should take Israeli officials to court," Brig. Gen. Baqerzadeh said.

He added that if international organizations fail to ensure the supply of emergency relief to the impoverished territory Iran will adopt "effective measures" to resolve the issue.

CS/HGH