Gaza hits 'the real Holocaust'
2008-03-01 17:34
Damascus - Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal denounced Israeli attacks against civilians in the Gaza strip on Saturday, describing it as "the real Holocaust."
Thirty-three Gazans, at least half of them civilians, have died in pitched battles between Israeli troops and Palestinian rocket squads that began on Wednesday and escalated sharply on Saturday.
West Bank leaders have threatened to suspend peace talks to protest the Israeli attacks, which came as Gaza militants bombarded southern Israel with dozens of rockets and mortars.
"Israeli actions in Gaza since Wednesday is the real Holocaust," Mashaal told reporters in Damascus, where he lives in exile.
He accused Israel of "exaggerating the Holocaust and using it to blackmail the world".
- AP