Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi: Gaza war revealed Israel’s vulnerability

A senior Iranian cleric says the victory of the people in the Gaza Strip over Israel in the recent eight-day war on the coastal enclave showed the vulnerability of the Israeli regime.

“The myth of an invincible army, the Iron Dome and a safe territory was totally blown away, and the entire world saw with surprise that the missiles of the resistance [movement] targeted the depths of the occupied Palestinian territories and that surveillance drones can penetrate deep into there,” Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi said in a statement on Monday.

“Hence, with this disgraceful defeat against Gaza’s relatively small army, it would be ridiculous ranting [for Israel] to threaten the Lebanese resistance [movement] or Iran,” the statement added.

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi also censured the United States for its backing of Israel, saying: “Due to its unconditional support for the crimes of the occupiers of al-Quds (Jerusalem)…, the United States is becoming further despised on the international scene on a daily basis. That is the heavy price the Americans have to pay in return for their unconditional support for the occupiers of al-Quds.”

Israel launched a major military offensive against the besieged Gaza Strip on November 14, which left over 160 Palestinians, including many women and children, dead and about 1,200 others injured.

In retaliation, Palestinian resistance fighters fired rockets and missiles into Israeli cities, killing at least five Israelis.

The violence ended after the Israeli regime and the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire on November 21.