Iran’s Khamenei: Hamas and Hezbollah resistance means ‘defeat’ for Israel
Al Jazeera
Khamenei said groups backed by Tehran have managed to increasingly repel Israel over four decades in Gaza and Lebanon.
Tehran, Iran – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the fact that Hamas and Hezbollah are still fighting in Gaza and Lebanon signifies a defeat for Israel.
Israel wished to uproot Hamas but “massacred people, showed its ugly face to the whole world, proved its malice, condemned and isolated itself”, he told a gathering of the top clerical body, the Assembly of Experts, on Thursday.
The Iranian leader said Israel believed it could silence the Palestinian resistance by assassinating its top leaders, but “Hamas keeps fighting and this means defeat for the Zionist regime”.
Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31 in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Beirut in September.
Khamenei said for nearly 40 years, Hezbollah has driven Israel back from Lebanese territory in many incidents, including from Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, and ultimately from most of southern Lebanon.
