• Tension: Iran and Hezbollah's support for Hamas
  • Hezbollah launches a mortar and missile attack on Israel, which responds with a drone bombardment

Amid efforts by several Middle Eastern countries to de-escalate tensions in the war between Israel and Hamas, Iran is threatening a new regional escalation. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday demanded an "immediate" halt to Israel's "genocide" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The president made his first remarks since Israel announced an imminent land, sea and air offensive on the territory, which has already killed 2,800 civilians. A third of the victims are children, although it is believed that the figure could be much higher because of the difficulty for Gazan emergency services to work on the ground, after days without access to petrol, water or electricity, following the blockade of supplies by Israel. The surprise Hamas attack, on the other hand, caused the death of 1,400 Israelis. "We must respond, we must react to what is happening in Gaza," Khamenei warned, noting that Israeli authorities should be tried for "crimes against Palestinians in Gaza."

Tehran is a regional supporter of Hamas and has made no secret of its moral and financial support for the group. Together with its Lebanese ally, the Shiite Hezbollah party, which has both a political and an armed wing, Iran has proxy forces in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and constantly threatens Israel, its main enemy in the region.

Several investigations indicate that Tehran has been supporting the Palestinian group logistically for years and has helped it build tunnels in Gaza, through which they traffic weapons but also food and other supplies blocked by Israel. "If the crimes committed by the Zionist regime continue, no one will be able to stop the Muslims and the resistance forces," the ayatollah warned.

The supreme leader's remarks come a day before the US president's visit to Israel, amid escalating tensions and anticipation of the Israeli army's imminent ground offensive in Gaza. Khamenei said no country should have expectations that "Iran will stop certain resistance groups," referring to the regional forces that Tehran supports.

When Hamas launched its attack on Israel, Khamenei celebrated the "irreparable" military defeat of Israeli intelligence, although he denied being involved in preparing the attack. "We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime," Khamenei said, holding up a Palestinian headscarf. "The Zionist regime's own actions are to blame for this disaster," he added.

Alert of escalation of war

Since the beginning of the war, the Iranian authorities have warned of an escalation of war in which other actors could intervene, although they have reiterated that they have no intention of entering the war directly. On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Ami Abdollahian warned of possible "preventive action" in the coming hours by "resistance" groups against Israel if it continues to bomb Gaza, without elaborating on which group he was referring to. Tehran also launched a round of talks with allied countries and groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Qatar. In Doha, Abdollahian warned that if Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip do not stop, it is "very likely that many other fronts will be opened." He added: "This option is not out of the question and is becoming more and more likely." The head of Iranian diplomacy believes that the "absence of a political solution" can cause "things to get out of control".

At the moment, the Hamas ally that causes Israel the most immediate concern is Hezbollah, which has been firing missiles from its southern border at the Israeli side for a week now. At least 16 people have been killed in the last 10 days by the impact of missiles from the Lebanese side and the Israeli side, including several soldiers, militants, but also a journalist from the international agency Reuters.

Israel has evacuated villages near its border with Lebanon, while dozens of Lebanese families living in the south have fled to other cities in the country. This is the largest escalation since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, although it is not yet properly considered a new front in the war. For its part, Israel has also issued warnings to Iran, with attacks on its proxies. The Israeli military has twice bombed airports in Syria, knocking out the capital's airfield, hours before Bashar Assad was due to receive a visit from Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahian.

  • Israel
  • Iran
  • Hamas
  • Gaza Strip