Video: Gaza celebrates attack on Israel/Social media footage
Iranian security officials helped Hamas plan the surprise attack and gave it the green light during a meeting in Beirut on Monday, senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.
According to the sources, senior IRGC officials have advised Hamas since August on how to carry out the combined offensive from the ground, air and sea. The plan was formulated in several meetings in Beirut attended by members of the Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah and Hamas.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Palestinian Hamas Supreme Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, June 21, 2023/Reuters
Earlier today, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi spoke today with the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, later saying that Tehran supports "the right of the Palestinians to defend themselves" and that "the Zionist entity and its supporters are the source of instability in the region." He congratulated Hamas on Hamas' "victory" in his conversation with Ismail Haniyeh, head of its political bureau, saying that the organization had brought "pride to the entire Islamic nation."
The death toll from the surprise attack launched by Hamas has risen to more than 700, and the Health Ministry reported that some 2,200 wounded were being treated in hospitals. Along with launching thousands of rockets into the south and center of the country, terrorists infiltrated southern communities, opened fire incessantly and abducted many civilians and soldiers into the Gaza Strip, who are held captive by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The security forces are in the midst of efforts to gain control over the southern communities, and civilians throughout the country are mobilizing to help the many casualties. Against the background of extensive military mobilization and attacks on terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy said: "We can expect long days of fighting."
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