IRAN - GAZA

Iran urges immediate cessation of Israeli raids on Gaza

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi on Monday called for urgent action to stop Israeli indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza Strip and lifting the blockade on Gaza, the official IRNA news agency reported. "Tehran welcomes two major steps to be guaranteed by the international community, an urgent cessation of Israeli raids on Gazans and lifting the economic blockade on Gaza", Qashqavi was quoted as saying. He made the remarks in his weekly press conference in Tehran. He also urged Arab states, especially Egypt, to make efforts to help settle the Gaza crisis, saying that "Cairo is much more expected to take further steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and help the civilians living there." Asked whether Iran had any plan to give weaponry support to Hamas, he denied that there was anything in Iran's government agenda. Iran's former president and influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here on Friday that Gaza needed political, weaponry and propagandistic support, according to a report of semi-official Fars news agency. "There is no shortage of soldiers there in Gaza today but Muslim Ummah (community) must provide political, weaponry and propagandistic support for Gazans", Rafsanjani was quoted as saying. On Saturday, Israel's ground troops entered the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for the second phase of its offensive on the militant group after eight days of airstrikes. Israel's military action, aimed at retaliating for Hamas rocket attacks into Israel, has killed over 500 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,500 others since the start of the operation. Hamas is strongly backed by Iran which does not recognize Israel as a state of the international community. Source: Xinhua (This news from IRNA, Iran, 5 January 2009)