Defense minister: Iran says Israel to re-attack Gaza in coming months

Source: Xinhua | 01-22-2009 08:07

TEHRAN, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar Wednesday said that Israel would attack Gaza again in the coming months, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Certain reports indicate that Israel will in the coming months launch an attack on Gaza again. Israel's rejection of the UN Security Council resolution can be an indication of this," Najjar told reporters after signing a deal with his visiting Tanzanian counterpart Hussein Ali Mwinyi.

He was confident that Palestinian resistance movement would be fully alert and careful to meet its long-term objectives, Najjar was quoted as saying.

Referring to the outcome of the Israeli raid on Gaza as a victory for Palestinians, he added that "The victory promises a yet bigger victory."

The Iranian officials had called the 22-day war between Israeli troops and Hamas militants in Gaza a victory for Palestinians and have held celebrations to honor it.

Radical Hamas movement enjoys strong backing from Iran which does not recognize Israel as a state of the international community.

After three weeks of an unprecedented Israeli air and ground offensive on Gaza, over 1,300 Palestinians were killed and some 5,500 others wounded.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei