Iran sets up court to try Israelis over Gaza

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has set up a court to try Israelis for its air attacks on Gaza and is ready to try in absentia any people who Tehran says have committed crimes, a judiciary official said on Tuesday.

A group of Iranian students also broke into a British embassy residential compound to protest London's perceived bias towards Israel, an Iranian news agency reported.

Iran, which does not recognise Israel, has criticised some Arab states and Western countries for not doing enough to stop military action by the Jewish state.

Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has urged Muslims to defend Palestinians whatever way they can.

"The court is in a special branch in Tehran and entrusted with the task of dealing with the executors, planners and officials of this (Israeli) regime who have committed crimes," judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said.

He said the court was set up based on a 1948 U.N. convention on the prevention of genocide to which Iran is a signatory.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Tuesday accused Israel of committing "genocide against humanity" in Gaza. He was speaking in a meeting with foreign envoys in Tehran that was broadcast and translated by Iran's English-language Press TV.

Jamshidi called on all Palestinians who have been affected by the Israeli operation in Gaza to file complaints. The Israeli officials could be tried in absentia, he added.

Israel, which accuses Iran of supplying Hamas Islamists with weapons, said the strikes which began on Saturday were in response to almost daily rocket and mortar fire from the Hamas- ruled Gaza Strip.