The president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, yesterday supported “the legitimate defense of the Palestinian people” and accused Israel of endangering regional security through its oppression of Palestine. “Iran supports the legitimate defense of the Palestinian people,” Raisi said in a statement, celebrating the “victory” of the Palestinian resistance. “The Zionist regime and its promoters are responsible for endangering regional security and must be held accountable,” said the president. “The balance of power has changed,” he said.
Raisi issued the statement supporting the attack against Israel after holding a telephone conversation with the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniye, the content of which no further information was offered. Raisi also spoke by phone with Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al Najala.
To expand its regional influence, Tehran supports groups such as the Lebanese Hizbullah, the Palestinians Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
A senior US official indicated Saturday that it was “too early” to say whether Iran was “directly involved” in the Hamas offensive. However, he added that there is “no doubt” about the fact that Hamas was “financed, equipped and armed,” among others, by the regime in Tehran. For his part, Gazi Hamad, Hamas spokesman, told the BBC World Service’s Newshour program that they had direct support from Tehran, which pledged to “support Palestinian fighters until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem.” Hamad maintained that they had received help from other countries, which he did not name. The spokesman claimed that the attack was a response to attacks by Jewish settlers in Palestinian territory. “Every day they build settlements, take our lands, kill our people, enter our cities. Through the mediators – Egypt, Qatar or the UN – we told them to stop, but they did not listen to anyone,” he declared.
In Tehran and other cities, several hundred people demonstrated yesterday waving Palestinian flags. In the Iranian capital one could read on large posters: “The great liberation operation has begun.” Also yesterday and Saturday, demonstrations in support of the Palestinians took place in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. Morocco, which is moving towards full diplomatic relations with Israel within the framework of the so-called Abraham Accords, expressed its “deep concern” and condemned attacks against civilians “wherever they are.” However, the Islamist PJD party, the largest in Parliament until the 2021 elections, praised the Hamas attack as “a heroic act” and “a natural and legitimate reaction to daily violations” by Israel.
Meanwhile, in Europe, authorities intensified security measures over the weekend around places of the Jewish community, such as synagogues, cemeteries and schools, in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Poland announced the sending of two planes to evacuate about 200 of its citizens from Israel.
