Iran Raps Israel for Slaughter of Palestinians
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s president on Wednesday blasted the Israeli regime for launching an military offensive on the Gaza Strip, saying such cruelty justified by Tel Aviv as a retaliation for the death of three people would spell Tel Aviv's leaning towards apartheid and racism.
“Only a regime in support of racial discrimination and apartheid can bring thousands of innocent women, men and children under the barrage of nonstop artillary and tank shells under the pretext of death of three people,” President Hassan Rouhani said in a cabinet session on Wednesday.
He stressed that there is definitely no logic behind the bombardment of the Gaza Strip and slaughter of innocent civilians, arguing that the Tel Aviv regime officials could by no means justify such brutality.
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 week-long Israeli attacks targeting different parts of the Gaza Strip has reached to nearly 200, with some 1,400 other people injured.
According to the United Nations, nearly 80 percent of the casualties in Gaza have been civilians.
