Iran calls Israeli military operation in Jenin ‘state terrorism’

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) — Iran has denounced an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin as “a criminal act” and “a clear example of state terrorism.”

Nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank early Monday, including eight in Jenin, according to the Health Ministry. At least 50 other Palestinians were injured.

“This is a criminal act and a clear example of state terrorism,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters in Tehran.

Kanaani said the Palestinians “have not committed any crime except defending their recognized legal rights and natural rights.”

The Iranian spokesman said that the Palestinians will “once again impose defeat" on Israel.

He said the international community is “responsible for the barbaric attack on the Palestinian nation,” while calling on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to “act seriously and effectively” to stop the Israeli assaults against Palestinians.

“The latest attacks against the defenseless city of Jenin have shown once again that peace and compromise and normalization are neither deterrent nor effective in shutting down the war machine of the Zionist (Israeli) regime,” Kanaani noted.

The latest Israeli military operation came only days after the leaders of Gaza-based Islamic Jihad and Hamas groups, Ziad Nakhalah and Ismail Haniyeh, visited Tehran and held wide-ranging talks with top Iranian officials.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank in recent months amid repeated Israeli raids into Palestinian towns.

Nearly 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of this year, according to the Health Ministry. At least 25 Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.