Israel’s security is declining precipitously amid Iran’s 'daily' operations, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani has said.
“At least 15 operations are carried out against the positions of the al-Quds-occupying regime every day, as they have built fences even inside settlements for fear of their lives,” Qaani said during a speech in Sari, northern Iran on Friday night, using the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
Emphasizing Iran’s support for Palestine, Qaani suggested that Palestinian resistance groups were making arrangements for a final blow against the “Zionist regime’s rotting body” when the time arrives, and said that Palestinian militants had built up sufficient military capabilities for a self-sufficient struggle.
The commander did not elaborate on or provide any specific details on the nature of Iran's secret operations against Israel.
Qaani's comments come amid the latest escalation between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, with the Israeli military kicking off a “preemptive” campaign of strikes against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group on Friday after the militants threatened to target Israel following the arrest of one of the PIJ’s leaders in Jerusalem earlier in the week. The PIJ fired over 300 rockets into southern Israel overnight Friday, with Israel activating the Iron Dome air defense system to intercept about 70 of them, according to an Israeli official.
15 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and 140 others have been injured amid the escalating violence, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. Israel has reported that two of its troops were injured in mortar fire near the border.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi blasted Israel over its “criminal” campaign of strikes on Saturday, suggesting that “the Zionist regime once again showed its aggressive and occupying conduct to the world,” and warning that Gaza’s resistance would “expedite” Israel’s “fall.”
The Israeli military has warned that it is prepared for a "week of operations" in Gaza, with Defense Minister Benny Gantz pre-approving the call-up of 25,000 reservists if it is deemed necessary.
Qaani took over as chief of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force in January 2020 after the US assassination of veteran Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani led the force in operations against Daesh (ISIS)*, al-Qaeda* and other jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, and provided advisory assistance to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia during the 2006 Lebanon War against Israel. Qaani served as Quds Force deputy commander between 1997 and 2020.
* Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries.