The United Nations distributes aid to displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip
Food and other relief supplies have been delivered to about 150 displaced Palestinian families seeking refuge in a camp in the southern Gaza Strip. (Oct. 25) (AP video: Hassan Shurafa)
Iran provided key technical knowledge, weapons and funding to Hamas before the militant group’s Oct. 7 rampage and has supported militant attacks in other countries in recent days, an Israeli military spokesman charged Wednesday.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari accused Tehran of ordering recent militia attacks in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. The Hamas attack in Israel killed more than 1,300 Israelis and sparked a war that has killed thousands of Palestinians and left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins.
“Iran directly supported Hamas before the war, with training, arms supplies, money and technological know-how,” Hagari accused. “Even now, Iranian aid to Hamas continues in the form of intelligence services and online incitement against the State of Israel.”
The Biden administration has repeatedly said there is no evidence or even prior knowledge of direct Iranian involvement in the Hamas shooting spree in Israel. The administration is trying to deter Iran and other regional actors from expanding the war into Lebanon and elsewhere.
Blinken calls for “humanitarian breaks”: But the US will not support the ceasefire in Gaza
Developments:
∎ The Israeli military said it killed a senior Hamas commander, Taysir Mubasher, a battalion chief and former Hamas naval force commander. The Israeli military said Mubasher was a close confidant of Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing.
∎ The Hamas-run health ministry said on Wednesday that at least 6,546 Palestinians had been killed, citing reports from hospital directors. More than 1,400 Israelis have also died, most of them in the early hours of the rampage by Hamas militants on Israeli communities along the Gaza border.
∎ Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said his military would avoid joining the war, warning that “your military power may cause you to make rash, wrong decisions.”
The U.N. agency tasked with carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza says it will have to significantly reduce operations and possibly stop altogether if fuel does not arrive in Gaza immediately. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
“The next 24 hours are very critical,” the agency said in an update on Wednesday.
More than 613,000 people are housed in 150 agency facilities across the Gaza Strip. According to the United Nations, three more agency employees were killed on Tuesday, bringing the total to 38 employees killed since the start of the war.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the United States of orchestrating military strikes in Gaza and accused Israel of retaliating against defenseless Palestinians because of its inability to confront Muslim fighters. Khamenei, on social mediawarned Muslim governments not to follow the lead of the United States and other Western nations and label “people who defend their homes and lands as terrorists.”
“Palestine will definitely be victorious in this current situation and in the future,” he wrote.
In the tunnels: As Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion, we take a look at the tunnels in Gaza
Hamas militants use hundreds of kilometers of secret tunnels under Gaza and into Israel to attack Israeli targets, transport weapons and – most recently – hold hostages. Hamas has used the tunnels, estimated to be 150 to 300 miles (240 to 480 kilometers) long, in its war against Israel for decades. The militant group claimed the subway network was 311 miles long in 2021, but this has not been independently confirmed. The network, consisting of approximately 1,300 tunnels, will pose particular problems for members of the Israel Defense Forces if Israel invades with ground troops.
Hamas leaders use parts of the network as command centers to direct military operations, Israeli experts say. According to the Israeli military, Hamas financed the construction of the tunnels with millions of dollars in aid. Read more here.
− George Petras, Janet Loehrke
Contribution: The Associated Press