TEHRAN, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- University students of Iran's central province of Isfahan on Tuesday protested about Israel's raids on the Gaza Strip, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    "Hundreds of students from universities of Isfahan province staged a sit-in at Isfahan University of Technology on Tuesday to protest Zionist's crimes in Gaza," the report said

    They were chanting slogans such as "Death to Israel" and "Deathto the U.S.", and strongly "criticized Arab states for keeping silence on the inhuman crimes and genocide," according to IRNA.

    On Monday, 7,000 university students from Iran's Isfahan city registered to fight Israel.

    "On the first day of registration to fight Zionist regime and to help Palestinians, 7,000 students from the universities of Isfahan have claimed readiness," Mohammad Zarifi, member of Iran's Students Islamic Association, was quoted as saying by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency.

    The registration came a day after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a religious decree saying whoever dies in fight with Israel and in defense of Gaza would be a martyr.

    The Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was under intensive Israeli air strikes for the fourth successive day on Tuesday.

    About 380 Palestinians have so far been killed and 1,600 others wounded in the powerful offensive which Israel said was in revenge for nearly daily cross-border rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

    Hamas is strongly backed by Iran which does not recognize Israel as a state of the international community.