By Anadolu staff
ANKARA (AA) — North Korea on Tuesday accused Israel of escalating the conflict with the Palestinian group Hamas and said its consequences of "Israel's ceaseless criminal actions" against the people of Palestine.
"A large scale armed conflict has occurred between Hamas of Palestine and Israel," Seoul-based Yonhap News reported, citing Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of North Korea's ruling party.
"The international community calls the conflict the consequence of Israel's ceaseless criminal actions against the people of Palestine. Fundamental solution is an independent Palestinian state," added the Rodong Sinmun article.
Earlier, the newspaper had also criticized Israeli soldiers for actions against Palestinians.
Gaza-based resistance group Hamas early on Saturday launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, firing a barrage of rockets. It said the surprise attack was in response to incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and growing settler violence.
In retaliation, the Israeli army launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza has risen to 704, including 143 children and 105 women, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said early Tuesday. It said the number of wounded has risen to around 4,000.
The Interior Ministry in Gaza said the Israeli army "intensified its aggression" on Gaza with hundreds of raids.
The Israeli army said it had struck over 500 targets in overnight raids on Gaza, which they claimed were targets belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian resistance group.
At least 900 Israelis have been killed and over 2,600 others wounded in the fighting, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.
*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid