'Israel no longer deemed military power'

Iran says the outcome of Gaza offensive shows Israel is no longer in a position to boast of its military capabilities in the Middle East.

Speaking in a Press TV interview late Monday, the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire by Tel Aviv indirectly acknowledges its admission of defeat; such defeats have burst the regime's bubble of delusion.

"The Israelis were under the delusion that they can attain their goals within a week, but today they acknowledge that they had made mistakes in their estimations about Hamas' resistance and military capabilities," said Mottaki.

Tel Aviv launched a deadly offensive against Gaza for 23 consecutive days under the excuse of putting an end to the rockets fired at the Israeli settlements by Hamas fighters.

On Sunday Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire after failing to achieve its primary goals in the impoverished region which has been under a tight blocked for the last 17 months.

Palestinian rockets kept hitting Israeli cities until the last day of the war.

Later, Hamas announced an independent ceasefire and gave Israeli soldiers a week to fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Tel Aviv has begun pulling back its military forces out of Gaza.

"Israel killed over 1310 Palestinians and injured more than 5000 others during its offensive against the Gaza Strip. It can declare its crimes as victory, but no one can accept such atrocities as victory," Mottaki added.

Palestinian medics put the number of the people killed in Israel's military campaign in Gaza at 1,340. 5320 other people were injured in the attacks, they said.

Yuval Diskin, head of the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet, admitted that Tel Aviv had failed to achieve its goals. Link

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