The head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told the Palestinian jihadist leader ‘we are with you on this path until the end’.
The Palestinians are “not alone” in their fight against Israel, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, as they faced a second day of air strikes on Gaza.
Major General Hossein Salami of the IRGC said in a statement on the Sepah News website: “Today, all jihadist powers against Zionism are in a united formation aimed at liberating Jerusalem and defending the rights of Palestinian people.
He told the leader of the Islamic Jihad group, Ziad al-Nakhala, during a meeting in Tehran: “We will be with you on this path to the end, and let Palestinians and Palestinians know that they are not. single.
Israel said it launched a “pre-emptive” campaign against jihad on Friday to prevent an impending attack after days of tension along the Gaza border.
A senior commander of the group was killed in an air strike on Gaza City on Friday, one of a wave of attacks on the territory.
The Gaza Health Ministry said a 5-year-old girl was among 15 people killed by Israeli shelling. More than 100 others were injured.
Palestinian warplanes responded with a barrage of rockets at Israel in the territory’s worst outbreak since the war last year.
Israeli forces continued to target the Gaza Strip with airstrikes for a second day.
Nida Ibrahim explains that tensions have been running high since Israeli forces arrested an Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West Bank on Monday ️ pic.twitter.com/zX2okqgBdi
– Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 6, 2022
‘Expensive’
Mr. Salami stressed that the Palestinian response showed that “a new chapter” has begun and that Israel “will pay another heavy price for its recent crimes”.
“Palestinian resistance is stronger today than it was in the past,” he said, adding that armed groups have found “the ability to manage major wars.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s “brutal attack” on Gaza.
President Ebrahim Raisi said Israel has “once again demonstrated its occupying and aggressive nature to the world,” according to a statement from his office.
Iran is a supporter of jihad and al-Nakhala met Raisi and other officials during his visit.
Israel accuses Iran of smuggling weapons to Palestinian groups in Gaza. In March last year, they said they had intercepted two Iranian drones loaded with weapons towards Gaza.
