TEHRAN - Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Thursday criticized the US Congress for hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and applauding his speech amid ongoing Israeli actions against Palestinians.

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Kanaani made the remarks on social media platform X, reacting to Netanyahu's visit and his address to the US Congress on Wednesday, where Netanyahu pledged to achieve "total victory" against Hamas and labeled Americans opposing Israel's military operation in Gaza as "idiots." Netanyahu's speech received applause and a stand ovation from some Congress members.

Kanaani lamented that while Palestinians were being killed daily by Israel, the US government and Congress welcomed the Israeli prime minister with "cheering and applauding despite all such crimes."

He said that by welcoming Netanyahu into the US Congress, the West's efforts to portray itself as "innocent and humanitarian" were failing, exposing what he described as the "violent and devilish face" of US policies.

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Kanaani criticized US and European leaders for what he called their hypocritical human rights slogans, stressing that Palestinians' rights to life, security, food, medicine, and treatment were being "trampled in the most heinous form in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank before the world's fully open eyes."

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, following a surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.

The Palestinian death toll rose to 39,145 and injuries to 90,257 since the offensive started, according to Gaza-based health authorities on Wednesday.