{"id":15287,"date":"2023-10-18T04:23:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T04:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/khamenei-says-israel-must-halt-assault-on-palestinians-in-gaza-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-10-18T04:23:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T04:23:07","slug":"khamenei-says-israel-must-halt-assault-on-palestinians-in-gaza-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/khamenei-says-israel-must-halt-assault-on-palestinians-in-gaza-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Khamenei says Israel must halt assault on Palestinians in Gaza | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nDUBAI:
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has described Israel’s assault on Gaza as a genocide of Palestinians and said it must stop immediately, state TV reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

A senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) also warned of further action by Tehran-backed militant groups against Israel if it did not cease its attacks.<\/p>\n

Israel has bombarded the Palestinian territory of Gaza with air strikes since Hamas fighters burst into Israel from the enclave on Oct. 7 and killed 1,300 people, most of them civilians.<\/p>\n

It has vowed to annihilate the Tehran-backed Hamas, which rules Gaza.<\/p>\n

But the Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed more than 2,800 Palestinians, a quarter of them children, and driven around half of the 2.3 million Gazans from their homes. Israel has also imposed a total blockade on the enclave, preventing food, fuel and medical supplies from getting in.<\/p>\n

“No one can confront Muslims and the resistance forces if the Zionist regime’s (Israel) crimes against Palestinians continue. The bombardment of Gaza must stop immediately,” Khamenei told a group of students in Tehran.<\/p>\n

“The world is witnessing the Zionist regime’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” he said to chants of “Death to Israel”.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Iran warns of ‘far-reaching consequences’ if Israel not stopped<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Backing the Palestinian cause has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution as the Shia-dominated country has sought to portray itself as a leader of the Muslim world.<\/p>\n

Israel, which Tehran refuses to recognise, has long accused Iran’s clerical rulers of stoking violence by supplying arms to Hamas. Tehran says it gives moral and financial support to the group.<\/p>\n

“We must respond, we must react to what is happening in Gaza,” Khamenei said.<\/p>\n

Israeli officials should face trial for their actions against the Palestinians in Gaza, he added.<\/p>\n

Separately, the Revolutionary Guards deputy commander-in-chief, Ali Fadavi, warned of more attacks by militants if Israel did not stop what he called its atrocities in Gaza, the Fars news agency reported.<\/p>\n

“The resistance front’s shocks against the Zionist regime will continue until this ‘cancerous tumour’ is eradicated from the world map,” Fadavi said.<\/p>\n

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday that supporting the Palestinians was Iran’s foreign policy priority but the militant groups make their own independent decisions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n