In the wake of ongoing retaliation from Israeli side after Hamas attacks on October 7, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday warned the Israeli forces of the possible interference of other countries to take action against it and said that Israel has crossed 'red lines'.
"Zionist regime's crimes have crossed the red lines, which may force everyone to take action. Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel," he said.
Mentioning the recent attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq, he added, "The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield."
Raisi made similar comments in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Saturday night, additionally claiming that Israeli forces who had entered Gaza had been "defeated" and forced to retreat.
As of Sunday morning, Israeli forces had seemingly not withdrawn from the positions they had reached on Friday night, with clashes reported by Palestinian media in a number of locations around the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post reported.
It reported that the Iranian president additionally claimed that Iran's proxies in the region are "independent" and "do not receive any orders from Tehran."
Raisi additionally stated that the strikes by Iran's proxies were conducted in response to messages received by Iran from the US.
On October 27, US military forces struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated terror proxies, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday.
The strikes came in response to a series of attacks this week by Iranian-backed groups against American personnel stationed in Iraq and Syria.
Earlier, Israel defense forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Iran is assisting Hamas by supplying it with intelligence and is also boosting anti-Israel incitement worldwide.
Iran also helped Hamas with training, weapons, funding and technological knowledge, said Hagari.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Saturday the second stage of the war against Hamas has started with the crossing over of ground forces into Gaza on Friday night, The Times of Israel reported.
He said that Israel's goal is to "defeat the murderous enemy and to ensure our existence in our land.
Calling it Israel's "second war of independence", Netanyahu said it will be "long and hard and we are ready."
He said Israel would fight to defend the homeland and they would not withdraw.
He added that Israel would destroy the enemy "above ground and below the ground" and called the war one of "light over darkness, life over death".
"This is the mission of our lives and my life," the Israeli PM added.
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