Iranian delegates walked out of U.N. climate talks in the United Arab Emirates in protest Friday over the presence of Israeli representatives, state media reported.

The Iranian side considered Israel's presence at COP28 “as contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference and, in protest, it left the conference “enue,” said Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, who headed the Iranian delegation, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.

The move came only hours after a seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas expired and hostilities between the two resumed in Gaza, following the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants.

IRNA had said late Thursday that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would not take part in the talks and Mehrabian would instead attend the summit.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries are under pressure to step up efforts to limit global warming at COP28, but the Israel-Hamas conflict now in its eighth week is casting a shadow over the summit.

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan had invited Raisi to attend COP28 during talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in June, IRNA said.

But the Iranian president had decided not to attend “due to the invitation of the Zionist regime (Israel) officials,” the news agency said.

In a phone call with his UAE counterpart, Amirabdollahian said “the presence... of Israel in this meeting deserves serious consideration” in light of its alleged “war crimes and genocide.”

Under the cover of a barrage of rockets, Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border with Israel on Oct. 7 and, according to Israeli officials, killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 240 hostages.

The Hamas government in Gaza says Israel's bombing campaign and ground invasion since the attack have killed more than 15,000 people in the besieged Palestinian territory, also mostly civilians. (VOA)

•A sign near Al Wasl Dome at Expo City reads 'Let's keep 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach' at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Dec. 1, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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