Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday described Israel as "the Zionist enemy" in response to the killing of eight Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip.

The language was unusually strong from the mouth of Abbas who was considered a relative moderate in the Palestinian leadership.

"We came here to ask mercy for our martyrs who were killed by the shells of the Zionist enemy in Beit Lahya," Abbas told a campaign rally in Khan Younis, a southern Gaza town.

Abbas arrived in Khan Younis as part of his campaign for the presidential elections due to be held on Jan. 9.

Earlier in the day, Israeli tank shells killed eight Palestinians and wounded seven others in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza Strip. Enditem