Moses would punish Israel

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip are proof that Zionists are not true followers of Moses. In a Thursday interview in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan, President Ahmadinejad said Israeli echelons pretend to be the followers of Prophet Moses but have proved with their violent attacks on Gaza that they have no moral values.

"These minority of criminals and thieves are liars because they represent themselves as followers of the prophet. If Moses had been present today, he would first punish the Zionists for their conduct which is even worse than that of the Pharaoh," he said.

Israeli began air operations against the Gaza Strip -- home to 1.5 million Palestinians -- on Saturday. The Israeli attacks have so far lead to the death of some 417 Palestinians and the injury of over 2000.

Israel says through its military campaign, it seeks to topple the Hamas movement, which took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after winning the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections in January 2006.

In retaliation to the attacks on Gaza, Hamas has been launching rocket strikes against Israel. Unlike the state-of-the-art weapons and ammunition Israel holds, the homemade Qassam rockets rarely cause casualties.

According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, at least 25 percent of the Gazans killed in the Israeli onslaught are civilians -- scores of whom are women and children.

Referring to the siege on Gaza, Ahmadinejad said Zionists have attempted to impose "barbarism" on the world with its bombing and rocket attacks, warning that such conduct will never be accepted by the people of the world.

Despite international calls for Israel to end its current military offensive into Gaza, which started on Saturday, Israel is reportedly preparing to launch a ground assault into the region.

The UN Security Council has also failed to force an end to the Israeli attacks due to US intervention and its use of veto powers against resolutions that require Tel Aviv to end the ongoing raids against the Gaza Strip.

The recent conflict is the latest of a series which started when world powers found a 'land without a people and a people without a land' in 1948 and created Israel.

President Ahmadinejad is an outspoken critic of Israeli crimes. For his condemnation of Zionist policies, the Iranian president has been regularly targeted by Western governments. He has been accused of having plans to wipe Israel "off the map."

In a September interview with CNN's Larry King Live, Ahmadinejad explained his stance on the issue, saying that he believes the Israeli regime would disappear in the same way as apartheid South Africa and the Soviet Union.

The Iranian president did, however, warn on Tuesday that the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip would be the harbinger of major developments in the region.