The number of children born with birth defects has increased dramatically since the Israeli operation "Cast Lead" on the Gaza Strip, The Hamas Health Ministry has declared.

"We have found cases among newborn babies involving heart defects and brain abnormalities." Haaretz quoted Dr. Muweiyah Hassenein, who heads the ministry’s ambulance and emergency services department.

Hassenein has said in a report that the higher number of birth defects is a result of "Israel’s use of internationally prohibited weapons against the civilians of Gaza.”

According to the report published in the Ma’an news agency, "Israel used the Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) as well, which could cause biological effects on fetuses.”

More than 1,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed during three weeks of the Israeli offensive against the impoverished coastal sliver.

(Press TV)