TEHRAN: Amid the looming threat of Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza in response to last week’s brutal attack by Hamas in the Israeli border areas, killing hundreds of civilians, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a big warning saying ”no one will be able to stop Muslims around the world and resistance forces if Israel’s crimes in Gaza continue.” “No one can confront Muslims and the resistance forces if the Zionist regime’s crimes against Palestinians continue … the bombardment of Gaza must stop immediately,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by Iranian state TV. “The Zionist regime’s officials should be tried for their crimes against Palestinians in Gaza,” Khamenei said.
Iran has already warned of a possible “preemptive” action against Israel “in the coming hours”, as Israel prepares for a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. The Iran-backed, Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire across the Lebanese-Israeli frontier for days, further raising tensions as Israel bombards the Gaza Strip to the south following an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian armed group Hamas inside Israel last week.
“All possible options and scenarios are there for Hezbollah … Naturally, resistance leaders will not allow the Zionist regime to take any action in Gaza, and when it feels reassured about Gaza, move on to other resistance areas in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a live broadcast to state TV late on Monday, as he referred to his meeting with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah the previous day.
“Therefore, any preemptive measure is imaginable in the coming hours,” Amirabdollahian said adding, “the resistance leaders” will not allow Israel “to do whatever it wants in Gaza”.
“If we don’t defend Gaza today, tomorrow we have to defend against these [phosphorus] bombs in the children’s hospital of our own country,” he added, referring to allegations by human rights groups that Israel has been using phosphorus bombs in its aerial bombardment of Gaza. Israel has denied the allegation.
“Hezbollah has been engaged with Israel along the border for more than a week now. But that cross-border exchange of fire has been largely limited in scope and confined to the border areas and military targets,” she said, adding, however, that tensions were rising. Iran, which reportedly celebrated the Hamas assault, insisted that it was not involved in any way.
Joe Biden To Visit Israel
The warning from Iran comes amid US President Joe Biden’s scheduled visit to Israel on Wednesday. US President Joe Biden will make a high-stakes visit to Israel on Wednesday as it prepares to escalate an offensive against Hamas fighters that has set off a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and raised fears of a broader conflict with Iran. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded hours of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning, saying Biden would visit Israel.
Biden’s visit will mark a significant show of US support for its top Middle East ally after Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7. Death toll on the Israeli side has reached 1,400 people on Tuesday.
Israeli Bombarding On Gaza Continues
Israel declared war on Hamas, the group running the Gaza Strip, after waves of its fighters broke through Gaza’s heavily militarised border with Israel on October 7 and killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel has responded by pummelling the Gaza Strip with non-stop air and artillery attacks that have flattened neighbourhoods and killed more than 2,800 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, and driven around half of the 2.3 million Gazans from their homes. It has imposed a total blockade on the enclave, blocking food, fuel and medical supplies, which are rapidly running out.