N. Korea strongly denounces Israel for attack on Hezbollah

North Korea on Tuesday strongly denounced Israel for its recent attack on Hezbollah militants, accusing it of committing a "large-scale massacre" of civilians, the North's state media reported. A spokesperson from the North's foreign ministry issued the rebuke amid the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, which has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon. "Israel is resorting to massacre, terrorism and assassination, talking about the 'right to self-defense' and 'security,'" the unnamed official said in a dispatch carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "We strongly denounce Israel which is expanding its large-scale massacre of innocent civilians to the whole Middle East and the organizational heinous terrorist acts of the U.S. which guards the former, and express invariable support and solidarity to the Arab people." The official also accused the United States of "manipulating" Israel, calling them "cancer-like entities" of regional peace and stability. North Korea has been accused of indirectly supporting Hezbollah's activities by helping its efforts to build underground tunnels in Lebanon. Source: Yonhap News Agency