As the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group rages on, Iran’s mission to the United Nations has said that Iran is not involved in the attack by Hamas on Israel which has led to over 1,000 deaths on both sides.
What has Iran said?
Iran’s UN mission said that the measures taken by Hamas are a “wholly legitimate defense against seven decades of oppressive occupation and heinous crimes committed by the illegitimate Zionist regime”. Reiterating Iran’s support for Palestine, it added that Iran “emphatically” stands in “unflinching support of Palestine”, adding that there is no involvement of Iran in the attack as it is “taken solely by Palestine itself”.
Iran has been a supporter of the Hamas group and has funded and armed the group along with another Palestinian militant organisation Islamic Jihad.
The attack initiated by Hamas on Saturday is the biggest incursion on Israel in decades.
Iran’s UN mission said the “success” of the group’s attack was because it was a surprise attack which made it the “biggest failure” of Israel’s security organisations.
“They are attempting to justify their failure and attribute it to Iran’s intelligence power and operational planning,” it added. It further said that Israel is finding it very difficult to “accept that in the intelligence community, it is being narrated that they were defeated by a Palestinian group”.
Israel-Hamas conflict updates
Over 1,000 people have been killed on both sides, with at least 700 people reportedly dead in Israel and another 400 dead in Gaza. Some 2,000 people have been wounded on each side. Many people have been abducted by the militant group. Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group claimed they had taken over 130 people in their custody and brought them into Gaza. They reportedly said that they would trade the abducted people in exchange for the release of thousands of Palestinians.
(With Reuters input)