Iran Condemns Zionistsˈ Intensified Criminal Attacks Against Gaza Strip

Tehran, July 9, IRNA – Foreign Ministry spokeswoman here Tuesday strongly condemned criminal attacks of the racist Zionist regime against various parts of Gaza Strip that has in recent day claimed lives of 16 Palestinians and wounded a large crowd of defenseless residents of that region. ˈIt has now been over two weeks that the Zionist regime has been wildly invading and massacring the innocent people on baseless pretext of abducting three residents of a Zionist settlement,ˈ said Marziyeh Afkham. Also, referring to the brutal scene of the martyrdom of a Palestinian young boy and burning his dead corpse to ashes by the criminal Zionists Afkham found similarities between the racist Zionistsˈ terrorist acts in occupied Palestine and those of the terrorists in Syria and Iraq. ˈThe martyrdom of the Palestinian young boy reminded everyone of the terroristsˈ crimes in Syria and Iraq and was a sign of that regimeˈs impotence and weakness in confrontation with the resistance of the victorious Palestinian nation,ˈ she added. Afkham also praised the spirit of residence of the Gaza residents in confrontation with the cruelties of the racist Zionist regime. She finally asked the Islamic and Arab countries, as well as the human rights groups to support the Palestiniansˈ decision to pursue the criminal acts of the Zionists in international bodies, including the International Court of Justice and to react immediately and effectively to the inhumane deeds of the Tel Aviv regime. At least 16 people were killed in strikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, as Israel threatened a lengthy offensive against the defenseless Palestinian residents. The racist Zionist regimeˈs military said its Iron Dome interceptor shot down the rocket which the Islamic resistance Hamas group said it had fired. Explosions echoed across densely populated Gaza, shaking buildings and sending up plumes of smoke. In residential areas, children could be heard crying as ambulance sirens wailed. At least 12 civilians, including five children, were among the 16 dead in Gaza, Palestinian officials said. On the Israeli side, medics said rocket impacts wounded at least two people, the Reuters reported. In scenes repeated in many Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip, motorists in the southern port city of Ashdod scrambled from their cars and raced for the relative safety of apartment block entrances as an air raid siren sounded./end