Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that if Israel decides to invade Gaza, the Hamas resistance leaders will turn it into a graveyard for Israeli soldiers.
The Iranian official made the statement after meeting on Sunday the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Amirabdollahian said that while Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harbors hopes and dreams, he and his government in Iran have remained silent.
“Washington has come to the rescue of its puppet, Israel,” he said. “If the scope of the war expands, there will be heavy losses for America as well,” he stressed.
There is concern in the US about possible involvement of Iran in the war. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US is concerned about a possible “escalation” of the situation with Iran’s involvement in the conflict.
“There is the risk of escalation, the possibility of opening a second front in the north and, of course, the involvement of Iran,” he said in another interview, on CBS television network.
The adviser to president Joe Biden explained that the US cannot rule out the possibility that “Iran decides to get involved in one way or another.”
US Backs Israel
US President Joe Biden expressed his unequivocal support to Israel after Hamas attacked the country and killed some 1,300 civilians and injured about 3,300 others.
President Biden denounced the attacks by Hamas as “sheer evil”. “We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attack,” he said.
Seventeen American citizens remain unaccounted for as Hamas have taken some 150 people hostages, while at least 25 Americans have been killed.
Biden promised military aid as Israel and the United States share a close, historic relationship.
Israel Hits Hezbollah Targets in Lebanon
Meanwhile, tensions are rising dangerously on Israel’s border with Lebanon, where clashes between the Lebanese Hezbollah group and the Israeli army are increasing.
There is concern of a local escalation that might expand further. Israel said today that it does not want a war on its border with Lebanon.
“We are not interested in a war in the north, we do not want an escalation of the situation,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, clarifying however that “If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price.”
On the Lebanese-Israeli border, exchanges of fire from both sides of the border and attempts to infiltrate Israel by armed Palestinian allies of Hezbollah are increasing.
At the same time, Israel hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, despite warnings from Iran.
Sunday was marked by an increase in military operations. An Israeli civilian was killed and many injured in Stula, northern Israel, in a rocket attack claimed by Hezbollah.
The Israeli military responded by targeting Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and closed a four-kilometer radius of the border zone to civilians.