Iran has censured Israel's "criminal" actions and the illogical and unlawful US support for the regime, saying the continuation of resistance until full liberation of Palestine would play a leading role in the establishment of "lasting" peace in the Middle East.

Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday on the occasion of the Palestinian Land Day, an annual event to mark the killing of six Palestinians by Israeli forces during mass protests against Israel’s seizure of their land in 1976.

In late March 1976, Israeli troops killed six Palestinians, wounded 100 others and detained hundreds more who had held peaceful demonstrations against Israel’s confiscation of 21,000 dunams (5,189 acres) of their land. Palestinians, both at home and overseas, have been marking the event known as the Land Day with rallies and remembrance ever since.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the establishment of sustainable and fair peace in the region will only be possible through the continuation of resistance until complete end of Palestine's occupation, the return of all [Palestinian] refugees to their homeland, determination of Palestine's next system based on [holding] a referendum in the presence of all its main residents and finally the formation of a united Palestinian government with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital," the statement said.

It added that the US government's moves in violation of the United Nations Security Council and its support for the Israeli regime, which was against international law, prove "futility of efforts by some Arab countries in the region to normalize ties" with the Tel Aviv regime.

The US measures also show that "overt and covert efforts to establish relations with this regime cannot help restore the Palestinians' rights and end the occupation of Arab-Islamic lands," it said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry further said US President Donald Trump's decision to declare Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's "capital," relocate its embassy to the disputed city and his recognition of Israel's "sovereignty" over the occupied Golan Heights have all proved that Palestinians' anti-Israel resistance is a "correct path and the Land Day is one of its symbols."

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The statement also described the Land Day as a "turning point" in the history, culture and resistance of Palestinians, saying it has played and would play an important role in boosting the Palestinian people's resistance against the Israeli regime's occupation.

A new report said Israel has so far occupied more than 85 percent or some 27,000 square kilometers of historical territories of Palestine in an expropriation process which still continues unabated.

Ola Awad, the president of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), announced the grim news in a report carried by the Palestinian Ma'an news agency on Thursday, the eve of the 43rd anniversary of the Land Day.

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