Iran condemns Israel's attacks killing 18 Palestinians

TEHRAN

An Iranian official on Sunday condemned Israel's attacks that killed 18 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“Because of America's unlimited support and the disgraceful silence of some Islamic countries, there is no end in sight to Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestinian lands,” the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Abbas Mousavi said in a written statement.

Mousavi reiterated Iran’s support to Palestine and called for international and regional communities to take urgent steps.

Since Saturday, at least 18 Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and her infant child, were martyred and more than 100 others wounded by Israeli air strikes.

The escalation in the Gaza Strip started when four Palestinians were martyred, including a teenager, and 51 wounded on Friday in Israeli army attacks on Hamas-affiliated sites and a separate attack on a rally against the decade-long occupation and siege of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli assaults were met by Palestinian resistance factions launching 600 rockets towards Israeli settlements, killing three people, according to Israel.

More than 80 Israelis have received treatment since Saturday from Palestinian rocket attacks, including 62 for panic attacks, Israel's Megan David Adom emergency services said earlier Sunday.

Since Saturday, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have targeted at least 200 civilian sites including seven residential buildings.

On Saturday, a building where Anadolu Agency’s office in Gaza was located was razed by Israeli warplanes.

No deaths or injuries were reported in the attack.

* Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur