Iran condemns Israel's Gaza strikes as 'terrorism'

Iran condemned on Thursday as "organised terrorism" an offensive by Israel against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

"Iran considers the criminal act of Israeli military forces in killing civilians as organised terrorism and strongly condemns it," Foreign Ministry spokeperson Ramin Mehmanparast said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

The spokesperson also criticised what he called "the silence of international organisations claiming to defend human rights," following the strikes. Israel killed the military commander of Hamas on Wednesday in an air strike on Gaza and threatened an invasion of the enclave.

The Islamist group retaliated on Thursday by firing dozens of rockets into southern Israel, killing three people.