In a message on Tuesday, Brigadier General Ashtiani congratulated his foreign counterparts in various countries on the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ (PBUH) and the beginning of the new Christian year.
“We are entering 2024 while during the last months of 2023, we witnessed the Zionist regime committing genocide, war crimes, and brutal massacre of children and defenseless people in Gaza which have hurt the feelings of all freedom-seekers across the world,” he said.
Abhorring the Israeli atrocities and expressing hope for the establishment of a ceasefire and delivery of humanitarian aids to Gaza, the defense minister wished for a new year without violence and filled with peace, justice, freedom, spirituality, morality and progress for the human society.
Nearly 22,000 people have been killed and over 57,000 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The Israeli bombardments have destroyed 70 percent of homes in Gaza, where 1.5 million people have been left homeless.