LONDON 

Croatia’s president said Wednesday that a portion of Israeli leadership is "made up of criminals," and Israel is pursuing "a criminal policy" with the support of Washington, according to media reports.

"Israel is pursuing a criminal policy and we should not have anything to do with such a state because part of its leadership is made up of criminals," Zoran Milanovic told reporters in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

He said Israel "can do whatever it wants, it has been doing so for decades," and he thinks Croatia should not have anything to do with such a state and such a state leadership, the Vecernji news portal reported.

"It is simply a criminal policy that leads nowhere and which, unfortunately, has the support of Washington," he noted.

Croatia should recognize Palestine, he added, as reported by the BHRT channel.

Regional tensions have escalated since Friday, when Israel launched airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.

Israeli authorities said at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks.

Meanwhile, in Iran, 585 people have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to Iranian media.