By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday raised concern over the ongoing Israeli ground bombardment in Palestinian territory, Gaza, cautioning that it “may force everyone to act”.
This is the latest warning issued by the Islamic republic since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict sparked by the October 7 invasion of Israeli territory by Hamas where more than 1,400 people were killed, mostly civilians.
Israel has been bombarding Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas, which has come with widespread humanitarian crisis.
Iran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas, hailed the October 7 attacks as a “success”.
It has however insisted it was not involved in the onslaught in which 230 people were also taken hostage, a figure given by Israeli authorities.
“The crimes of the Zionist regime have crossed the red lines, and this may force everyone to take action,” the Iranian leader said on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
“Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel,” he said.
“The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield,” he said, using a term often used by Iranian officials to refer to the Islamic republic and its allies like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Huthis and other Shiite forces in Iraq and Syria.
Since the war started, over 8,000 people have been killed, half of them children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
“Iran considers it its duty to support the resistance groups, but … the resistance groups are independent in their opinion, decision, and action,” the Iranian president said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, according to excerpts released by state news agency IRNA.
“The United States knows very well our current capabilities and knows that they are impossible to overcome,” he said.
