Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi on Thursday urged international efforts to stop the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, official IRNA news agency reported.

The call by Iranian foreign minister came after Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) declared Wednesday evening the commencement of " Operation Pillar of Defense" in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, starting with the targeted killing of Hamas military wing chief Ahmed al-Jaabari and a series of air strikes.

Salehi sent separate letters to secretary generals of the United Nations, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the United Nations Human Rights Council and European Union, calling for immediate and serious actions by those international organizations to stop the Israeli aggression against people in the Gaza Strip and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, according to IRNA.

In the letters, Salehi said threats of the Zionist regime of Israel against the Palestinian people will certainly spread instability and insecurity to the entire region.

Also, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast " strongly" condemned Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.

Mehmanparast asked the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member states to cut all the relations with Israel, according to Mehr.

"The Islamic republic of Iran considers the criminal act of Zionist militants in killing the common people (of Palestine in Gaza) as an organized terrorism and condemns it strongly," he was quoted as saying.

Further, the Iranian spokesman urged the international organizations and the human rights supporters break "silence" on the Israeli attack on the Palestinians.

A senior Iranian lawmaker said Thursday that the United States and West's support for Israel, as well as Muslim world's inaction, has emboldened Tel Aviv to continue its constant aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip, Press TV reported.

Hossein Sobhaninia, a member of Iran's Majlis (parliament) Presiding Board, slammed the new wave of Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip as part of Tel Aviv's expansionist policy against the Palestinian people.

Sobhaninia also slammed the inaction and lack of cooperation among the Islamic and Arab countries and noted that political attitudes of some of these countries and their clandestine relations with Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to continue its belligerent policies against the Palestinian nation in defiance of the rising tide of Islamic awakening across the Arab world, according to Press TV.

On Thursday, Iran's Islamic Propagation Coordination Council, in an announcement, invited the Iranians for a nationwide protest rally against the Israeli aggression on Gaza on Friday.

In the announcement, the Council has urged the Arab States and the United Nations Security Council for an urgent action on the Gaza raids by Israel.

Iranians will hold the rally to express their anger against the "atrocities of the Zionist regime" after the Friday prayers in cities all over the country, read the announcement.

The conflict between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has been escalating in recent days. On Saturday, Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli Defense Forces patrol jeep, wounding four soldiers.

In retaliation, the Israeli Air Force carried out several airstrikes on Palestinian targets in Gaza. Hamas launched more than 250 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel in return.

At least 15 Palestinians were killed and some 150 wounded in the latest wave of Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the Hamas authority in Gaza.