Iran FM: Any preemptive measure against Zionist regime possible in coming hours

Iran’s foreign minister says if the Israeli regime’s crimes in the Gaza Strip continue and no political solution is found, then the door would be open to whatever possibility, including preemptive measures by the resistance front.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a televised interview on Monday following a regional tour that took him to Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Qatar.

“During my regional trip and meetings that I had with leaders of the resistance front, they believed that an opportunity should be given to political solutions” to end Israel’s brutal strikes against the fully blockaded Gaza Strip.

“However, in the event that the Israeli regime’s war crimes against civilians continue, any possibility is likely,” the foreign minister noted.

The Israeli regime called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists, declaring a “long” war on Gaza in response to Operation al-Aqsa Storm. The operation was launched by the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movements last Saturday in response to the occupying regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodshed and destruction against Palestinians.

More than 2,800 Palestinians have so far died and close to 11,000 others been injured during the regime’s savage attacks on the besieged territory.

Noting that all scenarios are open to the resistance groups, including the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, Iran’s top diplomat said they have taken all considerations into account in their meticulous calculations.

“The resistance leaders will not allow the Zionist regime to do whatever [it wants] in the region,” Iran’s foreign minister said, warning, “Every preemptive measure is conceivable in the coming hours.”

“If we do not defend Gaza today, we would have to defend our [own] cities,” the top diplomat said, citing Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as saying that if the movement did not resort to preemptive action against Israel, “tomorrow, we would have to fight off the Zionist forces in Beirut.”

“The issue at hand is that what has happened [in the occupied territories] has been an earthquake in [the ranks of] the Zionist regime,” Amir-Abdollahian said, referring to Operation al-Aqsa Storm, which has left some 1,200 Israeli forces and illegal settlers dead and close to 200 others captive.

The Iranian foreign minister then cited his earlier discussions with some of his counterparts from Muslim countries.

“We have reached the conclusion that if limited and narrow possibilities available to the United Nations are not taken advantage of, the possibility of opening new fronts against the [Israeli] regime is inevitable,” Amir-Abdollahian said, adding that an extensive war against Israel by the resistance front “will change the geographical map of the al-Quds occupying regime.”

Iran’s top diplomat also censured the United States for urging self-restraint in the ongoing war on Gaza, while supporting the Israeli regime at the same time.

“We have clearly told the American sides, and I announce [here] that they cannot invite all parties to self-restraint, but offer their full support to the Israeli criminals,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

“The time for America [to send] such messages is coming to an end,” he said, adding, “I warn you to stop the bloodshed of women and children [in Gaza] instead of sending hypocritical messages.”

Israeli soldiers to be ‘buried’ in Gaza if they set foot there: Hamas

A senior official of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has warned that the Israeli occupation forces will be “buried” in the besieged Gaza Strip if they press ahead with their brutal aggression against Palestinians and dare set foot in the coastal area.

Basem Naim, the head of Hamas’ Department of Politics and Foreign Relations, made the warning in an exclusive interview with Press TV news network on Monday as the Israeli regime prepares to launch an imminent ground offensive in Gaza after forcing its millions-strong population to relocate south.

“We believe that if they try to enter Gaza, they will be not only defeated but they will be buried in the Gaza Strip. They have tried this (entering Gaza) three or four times in the last 15 years and they have failed,” Naim said.

“We believe that, at this moment, a soldier in a tank is much, much weaker than a soldier in a tank 15 years ago,” he added. “A soldier who has seen what happened on October 7 to his bosses and other soldiers around the Gaza Strip and the strength and courageous behavior of our guys and fighters, I think they know now what can happen to them.”

Asked whether the Israeli regime would be able to restore its so-called image of invincibility before the surprise attack on October 7 by the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups, Naim replied with a resounding “never,” and said, “Never and ever they will be able to recoup their image before October 7.”

The senior Hamas official also said the Palestinian resistance movement had warned the Israeli regime before the attack that Palestinians could not keep silent anymore on the occupying entity’s desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque, closing the holy site to Palestinian worshippers, Judaization scheme, suffocating siege of Gaza for some 17 years and the long imprisonment of Palestinians.

Naim underlined that Hamas had warned the response to the continuation of Israeli crimes against Palestinians would not be a “normal” reaction but an “explosive” one.

Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm last Saturday, penetrating deep into the territories occupied by the Israeli regime, by carrying out large-scale air, land, and sea strikes.

The group said the operation was a reaction to the recurring desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds as well as intensified Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Israel responded with intensive airstrikes on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 2,808 Palestinians in Gaza and wounding some 10,859 others, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The regime has also intensified the siege of Gaza, leaving the city, home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians, without water, electricity, fuel and internet.

Amid war on Gaza, Colombia says Israel’s envoy must ‘apologize and leave’


Colombian President Gustavo Petro. (Photo by AFP)

Colombia has said Israel’s ambassador must leave the country after President Gustavo Petro censured the regime for crimes against the Palestinians of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said on Monday that Gali Dagan should “at a minimum, apologize and leave” after he criticized President Petro’s remarks.

The foreign minister took to social media to slam the “rudeness” of Israel’s response to Petro. “Shame,” he posted online.

The Israeli regime on Sunday said Colombia’s Ambassador Margarita Manjarrez had been summoned over President Petro’s statements, in which he likened Israelis to “Nazis” due to their brutality in Gaza.

“If we have to suspend foreign relations with Israel, we will suspend them. We do not support genocides,” Petro said.

“The president of Colombia will not be insulted,” he said after Israel decided to cut arms exports to Colombia over Petro’s “hostile and anti-Semitic statements.”

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, Petro has voiced solidarity with the Palestinians in numerous comments on X.

Petro has said Israel must cease its systematic attacks on civilians and genocide, urging the European Union to abide by international law and condemn the crimes of Israel.

Petro has also vowed that Colombia will send humanitarian aid to Gaza.

On October 7, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm deep into the territories occupied by the Israeli regime in reaction to the recurring desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds as well as intensified Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians of the occupied West Bank.

Israel has so far killed more than 2,800 Palestinians in Gaza.

 

Zionists know no boundaries in Gaza genocide: Iran FM

In the telephone conversation with Malaysian Minister for Foreign Affairs Zambry Abdul Kadir on Monday, Amir-Abdollahian said that the regime has destroyed the children’s hospital in Gaza with phosphorus bombs and massacred the children admitted to the hospital.

Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying the use of such weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury, Reuters reported on October 13.

Iran’s foreign minister voiced his readiness to take part in the upcoming extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which is to address the escalating military situation in Gaza and its environs as well as the deteriorating conditions that endanger the lives of civilians and the overall security and stability of the region.

Amir-Abdollahian drew attention to the ongoing inhumane situations in Gaza, calling for opening a corridor to receive humanitarian aid to the people in the Gaza Strip.

The Foreign Minister of Malaysia, for his part, condemned the killing of women, children and civilians in the Gaza war.

It is vital to open the routes of providing humanitarian aid, including water, electricity, medicine, and food to Gaza, he underlined.

Today Gaza health-based ministry announced that the bodies of at least 1,000 Palestinian martyrs still are under the debris of the bombarded houses, and rescue forces could not take them out.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded.

Over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and 199 others, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel.

Palestinian Resistance fighters launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the positions of the Israeli regime in the occupied territories last Saturday morning, October 7, from the Gaza Strip, which shocked the regime, because such an inclusive and unprecedented operation occurred for the first time in 75 years of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The operation entered its 10th day with the Israeli regime getting disappointed against the Palestinian resistance forces thus resorting to hitting civilians and their houses in Gaza with fighter jets.

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Resistance fully ready to respond to Zionists’ warmongering

In the telephone conversation Tunisia’s minister for Foreign Affairs Nabil Ammar on Monday, Amir-Abdollahian said that the steps taken by the Resistant Front in the occupied territories are within the framework of legitimate self-defense to get rid of occupation

To our estimation, resistant forces are well-prepared to react to the warmongering of the Zionist regime, he further noted.

Iran will continue making efforts to lift the inhuman blockade and provide humanitarian aid, including sending medical and food aid through Egypt in the Gaza war, he pointed out.

He expressed the hope that the statement of the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah would be a strong statement in support of the Palestinians and put an end to the crimes in the Gaza Strip.

For his part, the Tunisian Foreign Minister, called for an immediate cessation of the killing of civilians in Palestine 

The heinous moves of the Zionist regime are not congruent with any of the humanitarian, legal and historical standards, he underscored.

This organized killing has no justification, he said, adding that what is happening in Gaza today undermines the credibility of the countries that advocate the stances of this regime.

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Raeisi: Iran ready to send aid to Gaza, help end Israel's atrocities

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says Tehran is ready to cooperate with all countries to dispatch humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza and use diplomatic capacities to stop Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people there.

Raeisi made the remark in a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday amid the Israeli regime’s ongoing deadly war against the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip.

He warned against the spillover of the ongoing developments in Gaza to other parts of the region should Israel refrain from ending its criminal attacks in the strip.

He added that Israel’s savage attacks once again proved that it is a “racist and anti-human regime” and commits every crime to achieve its own goals.

He once again condemned Israel’s heinous crimes against the oppressed people of Gaza, urging the Muslim world to confront the regime’s criminal acts and make efforts to end the barbaric attacks on the defenseless women and children in the Strip.

Pointing to the vital importance of every minute and second in stopping Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza, Raeisi said, “The Muslim nations and the oppressed Palestinian people expect the Muslim world to use all its capacities to stop the usurping regime’s crimes.”

He urged the Muslim world to put an end to Israel’s genocide and crime against humanity, lift the siege of Gaza and deliver basic items to the people in the tiny sliver.

The Iranian president also stressed the importance of strengthening convergence among the Muslim, neighboring and regional countries and using the capacity of agreements on regional cooperation such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to end the Zionists’ oppression.

 

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7, penetrating deep into the territories occupied by the Israeli regime, by carrying out large-scale air, land, and sea strikes.

The group said the operation was a reaction to the recurring desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds as well as intensified Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Israel responded with intensive airstrikes on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 2808 Palestinians in Gaza and wounding some 10,859 others, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The regime has also intensified the siege of Gaza, leaving the city, home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians, without water, electricity, fuel and internet.

For his part, Erdogan also expressed concern over the developments in Gaza and the relentless bombing of residential areas and civilians living in the besieged area.

He said Turkey condemns Israel’s savage acts against Palestinians and is making efforts to help the people of Gaza.

He slammed the presence of US warships in the region and the bombing of the Aleppo and Damascus airports in Syria which he warned would spread the conflict to other parts of the region.

Erdogan said establishing a ceasefire, stopping the attacks and lifting the blockade imposed on Gaza are among important and fundamental priorities to control the situation at the current sensitive juncture.

Al-Aqsa Storm marks ‘initial step’ towards Israel’s early collapse: IRGC chief

The chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has lauded the ongoing anti-Israel operation by the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups as the initial step toawrds the occupying regime’s early collapse.

Major General Hossein Salami made the remarks on Monday as he described Hamas-led Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the Israeli regime on October 7 as an event that exposed the illegal entity to a “political and security earthquake.”

Stressing that the war on the besieged Gaza Strip was “the first stage in the early collapse of the fake Zionist regime,” Salami said Operation al-Aqsa Storm had a tactical aspect in terms of geography but its sphere of influence spanned all across the globe.

“Today, as acknowledged by everyone, the Zionist regime has not only suffered defeat but also been humiliated, and Hamas, single-handedly and without reliance on any other power, has inflicted a major defeat on them,” the IRGC chief added.

Salami underlined that the occupying regime would not be able to recover from such a humiliating defeat despite its desperate attempts.

“No matter what the Zionists do in the future, the regime cannot recover from such humiliation,” he said, adding, “Israel’s delusion of grandeur collapsed with the operation by Hamas and its powerless reality was revealed to everyone.”

Stressing that the bombing of residential buildings is not a sign of power and defies any logic, Salami said, “Today, the fake identity of the Zionist regime has fallen apart and nothing else is left of it but a hollow shell.”

In an interview with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that the Islamic Republic would not be a bystander if the Israeli occupying regime pressed ahead with its savagery against the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Expressing optimism about political efforts aimed at ending the conflict, the top Iranian diplomat, however, warned that the continuation of Israeli aggression against Gaza would expand the war fronts across the entire region.

“We hope that political efforts will prevent the war from expanding, otherwise no one knows what will happen in the next hour; Iran cannot remain as a spectator to this situation,” Amir-Abdollahian added.

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm last Saturday, penetrating deep into the territories occupied by the Israeli regime, by carrying out large-scale air, land, and sea strikes.

The group said the operation was a reaction to the recurring desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds as well as intensified Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Israel responded with intensive airstrikes on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 2,750 Palestinians in Gaza and wounding some 10,000 others, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The regime has also intensified the siege of Gaza, leaving the city, home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians, without water, electricity, fuel and internet.

Hezbollah strikes five Israeli outposts: statement

According to Al-Manar TV website, what follows is the full text of the statement:

In the name of Allah

“Permission [to fight] has been granted to those who are being fought because they were wronged, and indeed Allah is competent to give them victory.” (Quran 22:39)

Islamic Resistance fighters targeted five Israeli sites, namely Maskaf ‘Am, Khirbet Al-Manarah, Hormon, Risha Site, and Ramyah Site, using appropriate and direct weapons, inflicting confirmed casualties.

And victory is only from Allah, the Almighty, the Wise.

Gaza death toll rises to over 2,800 as Israel ramps up attacks


Death toll from incessant Israeli airstrikes and shelling on Gaza reaches 2,808.

The death toll from more than nine days of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in Palestine has reached over 2,800 as the Tel Aviv regime keeps bombing the defenseless civilian population in the besieged territory.

Health authorities in Gaza said on Monday that at least 2,808 Palestinians had been killed and some 10,859 others had been wounded since the Israeli regime launched its campaign of airstrikes and shelling against people in Gaza on October 7.

Figures provided by the media government office in Gaza said that women and children had accounted for nearly 64% of the fatalities from Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The figures showed that some 254 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours.

Israeli assaults on Gaza, a besieged territory on the Mediterranean which is home to 2.3 million people, began after the Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas launched multi-pronged attacks on settlers and military forces in the Israeli-occupied territories of Palestine.

The Hamas operation against the Israelis, dubbed the Al- Asqa Storm, came amid growing violence against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and after Israeli extremists desecrated al-Asqa Mosque in the occupied city of al-Quds on multiple occasions.

Estimates show that more than 1,400 Israelis, many of them military forces, were killed in the unprecedented operation launched by Hamas against Israel.

Meanwhile, reports on Monday suggested that there was no change in Israeli regime’s plans to launch a major ground offensive into Gaza despite warnings by governments and experts that the move could cause the conflict to spiral out of control and would result in more deaths among the Palestinians.

The plans come as Israel has maintained a crippling blockade against Gaza by cutting food, water and electricity supplies to people living there.