Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday called Israel a ''rabid dog'' for its attacks on Gaza, and urged Muslims to arm Palestinians to enable them to counter what he termed genocide.
Meanwhile, US lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration to take no action that puts pressure on Israel to halt its military operations.
About 1087 Gazans, most of them civilians, have been killed in 22 days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. As well as 53 Israeli soldiers killed, three civilians have died as a result of Palestinian shelling.
In a speech marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Khamenei criticised the United States and European countries for what he said were their efforts to limit the military capacity of Palestinian fighters in the enclave.
Of Israel, he said: ''This rabid dog, this rapacious wolf, has attacked innocent people and humanity must show a reaction. This is genocide, a catastrophe of historical scale.
"They have been pounding innocent people day and night and these men, women and children are defending themselves with minimum means, and now Americans and Europeans want to take even that away ... so that those merciless beasts could pound without qualm.''
Khamenei denounced what he said was a ruling by US President Barack Obama to disarm Palestinians - an apparent reference to US opposition to efforts by Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, to obtain weapons such as missiles and rockets.
Khamenei said Iran took the opposite view about arming Palestinians.
''Everyone, whoever has the means, especially in the Islamic world, they should do what they can to arm the Palestinian nation ... the Zionist regime deeply regrets starting this (war) but has no way out.''
Khamenei's speech to a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Tehran was broadcast live on state television. Khamenei was accompanied by senior government officials.
On the other side of the world, many US congress members have criticised the administration's effort to halt violence.
House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nur) said the administration should ''stand with Israel".
‘‘At times like this, people try to isolate Israel,’’ Boehner said.
‘‘We are here to stand with Israel, not just as a broker or observer but as a strong partner and a trusted ally.
‘‘What does that mean? Well, it doesn’t mean issuing vague, on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand statements. No, it means backing up our words and showing solidarity with our friend.’’
This week, legislators will discuss a US$225 million (NZ$265m) request from the Defense Department to urgently bolster Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
Republicans and Democrats are clashing over whether to approve the funds in a larger spending bill or separately, though no one publicly opposes the payments. Senate appropriators already have approved doubling next year’s money for the system.
Israel launched its offensive on July 8 with the aim of halting rocket attacks by Hamas and its allies. It later ordered a land invasion to find and destroy the warren of Hamas tunnels that criss-crosses the border area.
-Reuters and AP
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