A commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns that Tehran's response to Israel’s assassination of Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, will be “different and surprising.”
Brigadier General Mohsen Chizari, deputy commander for operations of the IRGC Quds Force, made the remarks in an interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Wednesday, stressing that Iran will respond to Haniyeh’s assassination “in due time.”
Touching upon “Operation Arbaeen” carried out by Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah against the Israeli regime, Chizari stressed that the attack was in response to the assassination of the group’s top commander Fuad Shukr, adding that Iran's crushing response will definitely be different.
Haniyeh was assassinated alongside one of his bodyguards in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, a day after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has warned the Israeli regime of a "harsh response" for the assassination of Haniyeh, saying the Islamic Republic must avenge the blood of the Palestinian resistance leader.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Chizari said that the Israeli regime’s crimes against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have convinced people around the world that Israel is a “usurping and oppressive occupation regime.”
The senior Iranian commander further noted that the more Israel persists with its full-scale military onslaught against different areas across the West Bank, the more difficult the situation will be for it.
"The resistance structure remains strong in Gaza, and is emerging and strengthening in the West Bank. Today, the Israeli regime is taking measures to prevent the formation and strengthening of the resistance in the West Bank, but it will never succeed," he asserted.
Chizari further noted that the “Zionist leaders” definitely know that their crimes and operations in the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip will be in vain and they are looking for a way to get out of this predicament by any means.
He also emphasized that the resistance will definitely emerge victorious out of the current battle in Gaza, noting that the Israelis will fail to achieve their goals.
On August 28, the Israeli military launched a massive West Bank assault, deploying hundreds of troops and conducting airstrikes on Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas, which are major centers of Palestinian resistance against the usurping regime.
Local Palestinian resistance forces have been confronting the invading Israeli military since the start of the aggression, which is the largest in the occupied West Bank in more than two decades.
So far, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s West Bank assault.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed almost 680 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 7 October, 2023 when the regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza..