Iran Censures Continuation of Israeli War on Gaza

In a statement on Monday, the Foreign Ministry censured Israel for “employing the most lethal weapons against the defenseless inhabitants” of the blockaded Gaza Strip.

It also denounced the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime of Israel as the “direst war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Iran, which holds rotating presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), will hold consultations and take prompt action to bring an immediate end to the Israeli atrocities, the statement added.

It also called for collective measures to bring the Zionist officials to justice as “war criminals” and devise necessary plans to prevent further aggression.

Israel has launched a new wave of military strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip after tensions raged between Palestinians and Israelis following the burning alive of a Palestinian teen in East al-Quds by Israeli settlers.

16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir’s death sparked a wave of protests across the Palestinian territories earlier this month.

It came a few days after the Israeli military found the dead bodies of three settler teenagers who had been allegedly kidnapped in the occupied West Bank.

Israel was quick to point the finger of blame at the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas. The resistance group, however, strongly rejected the allegations, saying Tel Aviv, which was outraged with the formation of a Palestinian unity government, was looking for a pretext to launch a new aggression against the people of Gaza.

Death toll from the Israeli attacks targeting different parts of the Gaza Strip since July 8 has reached to over 170, with another 1,230 Palestinians wounded.

As the death toll rose, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said most of the victims were civilians, putting their number at more than 130, among them 35 children and 26 women.
It also said Israel had destroyed 147 homes and badly damaged hundreds of others.