TEHRAN – Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi has strongly denounced the Zionist regime’s terror attack on the Gaza Strip and the assassination of an Islamic Jihad commander.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, Mousavi highlighted the necessity of bringing the rulers of the occupying regime of Israel to international courts as war criminals, the Foreign Ministry website reported.

The spokesman also lauded the legitimate struggles and heroic resistance of the Palestinian people against the Zionist regime and described unity and resistance as the only option for the Palestinian people to fight the occupiers.

Pointing to the silence of international organizations and communities against the Zionist regime’s aggression and terrorist acts, he said, “Unfortunately, in light of support for this ruthless and child-killing regime, the crimes against and assassinations of Palestinian people and fighters have continued inside and outside the occupied territories.”

The spokesman also urges regional and international organizations and communities to fulfil their human and legal responsibility to stop the terrorist acts of the occupiers and protect the defenseless and oppressed people of Palestine.

Baha Abu al-Ata, 42, the commander of Al-Quds Brigades — the Palestinian resistance movement of Islamic Jihad’s military wing — and his wife were martyred during an Israeli aerial assault against their home in Gaza City in the blockaded Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

Al-Quds Brigades said it was on “maximum alert” after the aggression. 

The Israeli army confirmed the airstrike afterwards, saying it had taken place against Gaza’s Shejaiya area. It added that the operation had been recommended by the Chief of Staff and the Shin Bet domestic security service, and approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Separately, the Hamas resistance movement said the Zionist regime “bears full responsibility for all consequences of this escalation” and pledged that al-Ata’s death “will not go unpunished.”

The assassination is likely to fuel tensions between Tel Aviv and Gaza, which has been under a crippling siege by Israel since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008.

Gaza has also witnessed deadly tensions since March 30, 2018 which marked the start of the Great March of Return protests, with participants demanding the right to return for the Palestinians driven out of their homeland.

MH/PA