Iran's President Speaks With Hamas, Islamic Jihad Leaders
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has spoken with leaders of Palestinian terror groups, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one day after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has spoken with leaders of Palestinian terror groups, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one day after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
Raisi discussed the developments in calls with Ziyad al-Nakhalah, secretary general of the Islamic Jihad Movement, and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political bureau, according to the state news agency.
Iran has praised the Palestinian attack, describing it as a "proud operation" and a "great victory" and celebrations have been ringing out in Tehran.
“This victorious operation, which will facilitate and accelerate the collapse of the Zionist regime, promises the impending destruction of the Zionist regime,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“I am congratulating this great and strategic victory, which is a serious warning to all compromisers in the region,” he added in a letter to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, presumably referring to Arab nations that have established diplomatic relations with Israel since the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords.
Fereydoun Abbasi, a member of the Iranian Parliament echoed the sentiments of Israel's destruction: "With the advanced weapons we have, we can destroy Israel. We have things they are unaware of.”
The Hamas terror group launched a surprise operation against Israel in the early hours of Saturday, the holy Sabbath and a religious holiday. They first fired thousands of rockets towards Israel before its fighters infiltrated into Israeli territory through air, land and sea.
Local media reports at least 600 Israelis have been killed, and more than 2,000 others have been wounded. Dozens more are believed to be held hostage in Gaza.
In the Israeli retaliatory attacks on Gaza, which have targeted Hamas positions and facilities, over 300 are said to have been killed, and hundreds of others wounded.
