Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has condemned Israel's attack on peace activists on a flotilla of ships carrying relief supplies to the Gaza Strip.

Chavez called the attack "an act of war undertaken by the Israeli army against defenseless civilians" who were trying to break through Israel's "criminal blockade."

"Venezuela will continue to denounce the terrorist and criminal nature of Israel's government, even as it reiterates, today more than ever, its unbreakable commitment to the fight of the Palestinian people for freedom, national sovereignty, and dignity," he said in a statement issued on Monday.

Venezuela cut its diplomatic ties with Israel in 2009 to protest the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli navy attacked the Freedom Flotilla, which was carrying humanitarian assistance to Gaza, in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea early on Monday, killing at least 20 people on board the six ships, mostly Turkish nationals.

About 50 others were injured, according to Palestinian sources.

MGH/HGL

Source : http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128578&sectionid=351020704