Al-Aqsa Storm marks ‘initial step’ towards Israel’s early collapse: IRGC chief

The chief commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has lauded the ongoing anti-Israel operation by the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups as the initial step toawrds the occupying regime’s early collapse.

Major General Hossein Salami made the remarks on Monday as he described Hamas-led Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the Israeli regime on October 7 as an event that exposed the illegal entity to a “political and security earthquake.”

Stressing that the war on the besieged Gaza Strip was “the first stage in the early collapse of the fake Zionist regime,” Salami said Operation al-Aqsa Storm had a tactical aspect in terms of geography but its sphere of influence spanned all across the globe.

“Today, as acknowledged by everyone, the Zionist regime has not only suffered defeat but also been humiliated, and Hamas, single-handedly and without reliance on any other power, has inflicted a major defeat on them," the IRGC chief added.

Salami underlined that the occupying regime would not be able to recover from such a humiliating defeat despite its desperate attempts.

“No matter what the Zionists do in the future, the regime cannot recover from such humiliation,” he said, adding, “Israel's delusion of grandeur collapsed with the operation by Hamas and its powerless reality was revealed to everyone.”

Stressing that the bombing of residential buildings is not a sign of power and defies any logic, Salami said, “Today, the fake identity of the Zionist regime has fallen apart and nothing else is left of it but a hollow shell.”

In an interview with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that the Islamic Republic would not be a bystander if the Israeli occupying regime pressed ahead with its savagery against the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Iran will not be bystander unless Israel stops aggression on Gaza: Amir-Abdollahian

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned that the Islamic Republic will not remain a bystander if the Israeli occupying regime presses ahead with its savagery against Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Expressing optimism about political efforts aimed at ending the conflict, the top Iranian diplomat, however, warned that the continuation of Israeli aggression against Gaza would expand the war fronts across the entire region.

“We hope that political efforts will prevent the war from expanding, otherwise no one knows what will happen in the next hour; Iran cannot remain as a spectator to this situation,” Amir-Abdollahian added.

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm last Saturday, penetrating deep into the territories occupied by the Israeli regime, by carrying out large-scale air, land, and sea strikes.

The group said the operation was a reaction to the recurring desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds as well as intensified Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Israel responded with intensive airstrikes on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 2,808 Palestinians in Gaza and wounding some 10,859 others, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The regime has also intensified the siege of Gaza, leaving the city, home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians, without water, electricity, fuel and internet.

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