Iran's president warns Israel against new offensive on Gaza

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday warned against an alleged Israeli plan to launch a new military offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV reported.

In his speech at the inauguration of the Middle East's biggest iron ore pellet factory in the southern Iranian city of Sirjan, Ahmadinejad condemned Israel's "continued crimes" in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, stressing that Israel "is the sole obstacle to the establishment of peace and security in the region."

He also said Israel has "clearly been given carte blanche by Western powers to commit whatever crime it pleases and violate whatever law it deems necessary."

Ahmadinejad's remarks came only one day after Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom warned Hamas that patience in the Jewish state was wearing thin and threatened to launch a fresh military offensive in Gaza.

Israeli warplanes struck several targets in the southern Gaza Strip early on Friday, Palestinian witnesses said, adding they heard three explosions and the buzz of the warplanes which flew over the enclave.

The Israeli airstrikes came in response to an earlier homemade rocket attack carried out by Gaza militants. Israeli Radio reported that a rocket fired from Gaza landed at Hof Askol in southern Israel, but there have been no report of casualties.

Source:Xinhua