Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for a Muslim unification to impose an all-out blockade on Israel by cutting economic cooperation with Tel Aviv amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.
In a speech on Wednesday, Khamenei called for an immediate stop to Israeli strikes on Gaza and blockage of oil and food supplies to the Jewish state.
"Muslim states must not cooperate economically with the Zionist regime but denounce these catastrophes and crimes vociferously and without hesitation in all international forums. The scale and circumstances of what is going on must be clarified. The Zionist regime must be condemned, and the entire Muslim world must be mobilized against it,” said the supreme leader of the Islamic country, calling for a crippling boycott against Israel.
Khamenei also dismissed Iran’s meddling in the anti-Israel rallies across Europe and the US despite the reports of Tehran’s official warnings that its proxies in the Middle East were ready to act should Israel Defense Forces expand its operation in Gaza.
On Sunday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi warned that Israel’s actions in Gaza “may force everyone” to act, reiterating that the Israeli military has crossed the red lines.
Raisi explained Iran’s inaction to militarily react to the destructive strikes on Gaza by Israel Defense Forces by Washington’s requests for refraining from taking any measures. However, he accused the US of rendering widespread assistance to Israel.
Israeli military has been conducting full-fledged military operations in Gaza to disable Tehran-backed Hamas, a Palestinian militant organization. Hamas invaded Israel in an operation, codenamed “Al-Aqsa Flood”, on October 7 killing and capturing hundreds of residents in the south of the country.
Tel Aviv ordered the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), also known as Tzahal, to launch an immediate counter-offensive campaign to push back the deadly assault and further fully incapacitate Hamas.
“The IDF continues to advance in the Gaza City area, conducting face-to-face battles with Hamas terrorists and deepening the fighting,” CNN quoted Daniel Hagari, IDF Spokesperson, as saying in a press statement on Thursday.
“Our fighters continue to collapse the defensive lines of Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip and take control of central areas," he added.
As of November 2, according to the Gaza health authorities, 9,061 Palestinians lost their lives and 22,911 were injured, while over 1.4 million Palestinians left the war-torn areas in Gaza since the start of the hostilities. In Israel, casualties include over 1,400 deaths and 5,400 injuries. The Israeli territories stormed by Hamas were left by 250,000 Israelis.