Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza today
Tehran: Iran’s President Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi today acknowledged that Hamas and the forces fighting against Israel “must be approved and supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran”. He said the issue of Palestine “is the first issue of the Islamic world and the liberation of the Noble Quds is an important and central issue for the Islamic Ummah and should always be considered as the most important issue and concern of all Islamic countries”.
Dr Raisi, in an interview with Al Jazeera TV channel, called Hamas and its allies “The resistance forces”, and said that “since these forces are people, they are aware and awake, and their defence of their people and land against tyrants and oppressors is a legitimate defence, and they must be approved and supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran”. According to him, Iran considered it its duty to support the “resistance groups”, but these groups were “independent in their diagnosis, decision and action… While the Islamic Republic does not decide for the resistance groups, it will support them, and this support is completely wise, just and based on humane and Islamic principles”. He added: “We have declared this issue openly and officially many times and we believe that the wrong can flaunt, but it is not permanent, what will last is the right, and the right of the Palestinian people cannot be taken from them.”
Responding to a question that considering what was happening in Gaza these days, what were the red lines for him that if the Israeli regime violates them, the behaviour of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be different towards this regime, Dr. Raisi said, “what the Zionist Regime has committed, from killing women and children to attacking hospitals, churches and mosques to killing journalists and their families and destroying facilities and residential areas, are all red lines that this regime has crossed”.
Highlighting Teheran’s role in the Middle East in view of the Israel-Hamas conflict, he said Iran’s communication and contacts with Islamic countries were “necessary to create convergence and cooperation around the very important issue of Palestine”. He said, therefore, Iran started political and diplomatic efforts and activities in this field from the beginning of this issue, “which has definitely been very effective in bringing our views closer to each other and will continue to have an effect”.
Dr. Raisi claimed the “resistance forces”, whether in Palestine, in Lebanon or in other parts of the region, were forces “arising from the heart of the people who are fed up with oppression and have gathered together to defend their homeland and rights. But if it is meant that every action they take by the resistance groups is under the order of the Islamic Republic, then no, it is not like that and they act independently in diagnosis, decision and action. This procedure has been like this until now and it will be like this after this”.
When asked about his response to the supporters of Iran’s military intervention and practical action in support of the Palestinian resistance, he reiterated Iran’s support to the Palestinian “resistance movement” and said that “all the countries of the Islamic world and all the independent countries of the world that are not under the control of the United States should support and defend the Palestinian resistance movement”.
He also mentioned, “It is worth considering how the movement of resistance has neutralised the Zionist regime on its own”, and claimed that the Israeli forces, despite having the financial support and weapons of the United States and several European countries, have been made to retreat in the ground operation in Gaza. “This failure and withdrawal was the second failure of the Zionists from the resistance after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and the second failure was much bigger and heavier than the first because, in the first failure, they claimed surprise, but in the second failure they attacked Gaza with an army armed to the teeth and the flow of resistance forced them to retreat; This event marked another great victory in the name of the Palestinian nation,” he claimed.
Dr. Raisi’s claims contradicted Israel’s claims that today “dozens of terrorists were killed during engagements with Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) troops and over 600 terrorist targets were struck, including weapons depots, anti-tank missile launch positions and Hamas staging grounds”. Israel today said joint operations involving ground forces, the air force, the navy and intelligence enabled the IDF to close the loop against active threats in real-time. “One example of this collaboration took place when soldiers in Gaza identified over twenty Hamas operatives in a building and called in an aerial strike. In another case, armed terrorists were identified and targeted in an aerial strike while in an anti-tank missile launching post at the al-Azhar University in Gaza. In yet another example of Hamas’ usage of sensitive sites, soldiers identified Hamas Nukhba operatives in a tunnel under a mosque and called in an aerial strike,” IDF international spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht said today.
During the day, rockets were fired at southern and central Israel, including Jerusalem. One IDF soldier was killed and another was seriously injured when a tank turned over in an accident in northern Israel today, the IDF said and added that to date 312 Israeli soldiers had fallen and there were 239 hostages in the custody of Hamas.
However, during overnight ground operations, PVT Ori Megidish, an IDF field observer who was abducted by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7, 2023, was released. She received medical attention and was now home with her family.
The Iranian President declared that Israelis and the Americans “cannot destroy the flow of resistance in any way, because the resistance is not related to a specific person or group, but is in the blood and bone of the Palestinian people”.
He though stressed the need for an “immediate ceasefire in Gaza”, and said that breaking the siege of this region and providing aid to its oppressed people is of concern to everyone. “…there is no doubt about it, and with this cooperation, common thinking and exchange of messages between the heads of Islamic countries, these demands, which are happening in the Islamic world, must be achieved immediately”.
According to Dr. Raisi, the “resistance groups” publicly responded to the messages of the Americans, but “it is strange that the Americans tell others not to take action and they themselves provide all the weapons, equipment and facilities needed by the Zionists for their criminal acts in Gaza before the eyes of the people of the world”.
– global bihari bureau
