As the Israeli-Hamas truce neared its end on Monday, Iran demanded a long-term ceasefire in Gaza to put an end to Israel’s “crimes” there.

As the four-day ceasefire draws closer to its early Tuesday expiration, Hamas has declared its willingness to prolong the ceasefire and release additional hostages.

Following the start of the halt on Friday, Israel released over 100 Palestinian inmates in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani stated, “As the Islamic Republic of Iran, we want and expect… that the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people will be stopped completely.”

Iran’s Foreign Minster Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was on a visit to the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday.

“One of the main goals of the ongoing negotiations and efforts is to ensure that the existing temporary ceasefire takes a stable form and that the cruel aggression of the Zionist regime (Israel) against Gaza is not repeated,” he added.

But “it seems that the Zionist regime after not being able to achieve its objectives” after the offensive on Gaza, “wants to obtain a tangible victory”, he added, suggesting Israel would continue its offensive in Gaza.