DUBAI, May 7. /TASS/. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned the Israeli military operation in the Gazan town of Rafah, saying it aims to disrupt the efforts of the international community to establish peace in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel "made this decision in order to frustrate the international community's efforts to end the war and genocide in the Gaza Strip and with the intention of protecting the individual and group interests of Israeli criminals," he was quoted as saying in a statement published on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Telegram channel.

Kanaani blamed Israel and the US "for the continuation of bloodshed, especially in the Rafah area."

According to the spokesman, "the key to peace and security in the region is an immediate and unconditional end to the war against the oppressed Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

"All members of the international community should put pressure on [Israel] to achieve this goal," he said.

On May 6, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country's war cabinet unanimously voted to continue the military operation in Rafah to "exert military pressure on Hamas" and help the release of Israeli hostages. The Israel Defense Forces said it attacked more than 50 targets of Palestinian radicals in the Rafah area over the past day. On Tuesday, Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt and said it had launched a targeted counterterrorism operation in the eastern part of the city.