Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "no one can stop" global Islamic forces if Israel continues the war with Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group that launched attacks against Israel last week.
“If the crimes of the Zionist regime continue, Muslims and resistance forces will become impatient, and no one can stop them,” Khamenei said on Tuesday. “Bombardments should be immediately stopped. Muslim nations are angry.”
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR RISKS UPENDING TRADE AND COMMODITIES SHIPPING
Iran has been a longtime patron of various Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas. Despite denying responsibility for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Khamenei said Hamas inflicted an "irreparable" defeat on Israel and vowed Israel's response would lead to a "greater disaster" for the Jewish state.
“We kiss the foreheads and arms of skillful and intelligent designers and Palestinian youth, but those who say that the recent epic is the work of non-Palestinians suffer from miscalculation,” Iran's ruling cleric said.
A senior Hamas official warned Israel last week that Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah “will join the battle if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation." Hezbollah has taken responsibility for direct-fire attacks along Israel's border with Lebanon. The Iran-backed Shiite group's attacks against Israel from its base in Lebanon have raised fears that Hezbollah could join the war against Israel, expanding the scope of the conflict.
At least 4,200 people, including Israelis and Palestinians, have died as of Tuesday morning since Oct. 7. Israel ordered a “total siege” of the Gaza Strip last week, which is home to about 2.3 million Palestinians, and Israeli officials urged Palestinian civilians to try to flee the city centers.
“No matter what the Zionist regime does, it cannot make up for the scandalous failure it suffered,” Khamenei said Tuesday of the Hamas onslaught.
Israel is also preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza. More than 1.1 million Gazans have been told to leave the northern part of the densely populated Palestinian area, with the goal of minimizing civilian casualties.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Hamas is preventing Palestinians in Gaza, as well as U.S. citizens, from fleeing through the Rafah crossing — the sole passage point between the enclave and Egypt. The Israel Defense Forces also said Hamas was putting up roadblocks and dissuading residents from evacuating.
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Iran has repeatedly warned Israel that a ground invasion could lead to other actors entering the war. Khamenei reiterated on Tuesday that Israel's air strikes against Hamas are "genocide" and urged the United States to "pay attention to its responsibility" in the war.
President Joe Biden and the State Department have pledged U.S. aid to Israel for the war. Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday to discuss "war aims and strategy" and how to deter Iran, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Monday.