Israel-Hamas War: Iran accuses US of 'encouraging' Israel to kill Palestinians

Accusing the United States of “encouraging” Israel to kill and carry out “cruel acts” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday said that a ceasefire must be declared immediately and that aid be provided to the oppressed and proud people of Gaza. At a joint press conference in Tehran with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Raisi said “The aid from the United States to the Zionist regime (Israel) is encouraging them to kill and commit cruel acts of neglect against the Palestinian people,”. Gunmen from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas stormed across Gaza’s border with Israel on October 7, killing about 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking over 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza and sent in ground troops, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory saying more than 9,700 people have been killed, mainly civilians. “We believe that the bombings must stop as soon as possible, that a ceasefire must be declared immediately and that aid be provided to the oppressed and proud people of Gaza,” Raisi said. “These horrible crimes against humanity are a genocide, which is carried out by the Zionist regime (Israel) with the support of the United States and certain European countries. “The Iraqi leader’s visit to Iran comes a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise stop in Baghdad on his diplomatic tour of the Middle East to meet with Sudani.In Baghdad, Blinken slammed “attacks or threats” against US troops in Iraq and Syria by militias that the United States says have ties to Iran. Since the start of the Hamas-Israel war, rocket and drone attacks have targeted military bases hosting US forces in Iraq. Iraq is close to Iran, and neither Baghdad nor Tehran recognises the state of Israel. On October 25, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described the United States as being “the undeniable accomplices of the crimes” perpetrated in Gaza. Iran financially and militarily backs Hamas but insists it had no involvement in the Palestinian Islamist group’s October 7 attacks on Israel, the worst in the country’s 75-year history. A day before Iran said that the United States would “be hit hard” if Washington did not implement a ceasefire in Gaza, the country’s Minister of Defence was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “Our advice to the Americans is to immediately stop the war in Gaza and implement a ceasefire, otherwise they will be hit hard,” Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani said. After a surprise attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, the Israelis have sought to defeat the militant group. Israeli troops early Monday had surrounded Gaza City and cut off the northern part of the besieged Hamas-ruled territory as communications lost for several hours across Gaza overnight were being restored. Troops are expected to enter the city Monday or Tuesday, Israeli media reported, and militants who have prepared for years are expected to fight street by street using a vast network of tunnels. Casualties will likely rise on both sides in the month-old war, which has already killed more than 9,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Some 1.5 million Palestinians, or around 70% of the population, have fled their homes since the war began with a bloody Hamas incursion into Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians. Food, medicine, fuel and water are running low, and U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters are beyond capacity, with many sleeping on the streets outside. Israel has so far rejected U.S. suggestions for a pause in fighting to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries and the release of some of the estimated 240 captives seized by Hamas in its Oct. 7 raid. Israel has also dismissed calls for a broader cease-fire from increasingly alarmed Arab countries — including Jordan and Egypt, which made peace with it decades ago. With inputs from agencies.