Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a qualified welcome Thursday to a truce deal between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egypt to end eight days of violence that killed six Israelis and 163 Palestinians.

“I agree that the truce is a good thing, but we will have to see the basis of this truce,” Ahmadinejad told Pakistan TV channel Geo in an interview given in Farsi and translated into Urdu by the network.

Visiting Islamabad to attend the Developing Eight summit of Muslim leaders, he lashed out against Israel saying there was “no reason whatsoever for any military attacks” but made no mention of Hamas rocket attacks on the Jewish state, Iran’s arch enemy.

“Zionism is a serious threat for the world. They have a hand behind all subversive activities and terrorism, and Palestinians are being made victims of Zionist plans,” Geo television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Ahmadinejad downplayed the threat of an Israeli attack on his country as “child’s wish”.