The President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, yesterday supported “the legitimate defense of the Palestinian people” and accused Israel of endangering regional security by the 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 the promoters are responsible for jeopardizing regional security and must be held accountable,” assured the president. “The balance of power has changed”, he said.
Raisi issued the statement of support for the attack on Israel after holding a telephone conversation with the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, the content of which was not provided further information. Raisi also spoke by phone with the leader of Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhal·lah.
Tehran supports, to expand regional influence, groups such as the Lebanese Hizbullah, the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
A senior US official said on 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 Tehran regime. For his part, Gazi Hamad, spokesman for Hamas, stated on the Newshour program of the BBC World Service that they had direct support from Tehran, which pledged to “support the 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 stated that the attack was a response to attacks by Jewish settlers in Palestinian territory. “Every day they build settlements, take our land, kill our people, enter our cities. Through the mediators – Egypt, Qatar or the UN – we told them to stop, but they didn’t listen to anyone”, he declared.
In Tehran and other cities, several hundred people demonstrated yesterday while waving Palestinian flags. In the Iranian capital, large posters read: “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 under the so-called Abraham Accords, expressed “deep concern” and condemned the attacks on civilians “unless 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 Israelis.
Meanwhile, in Europe, authorities stepped up security around Jewish community sites such as synagogues, cemeteries and schools in France, Germany and the UK over the weekend. Poland announced the dispatch of two planes to evacuate about 200 of its citizens from Israel.
