Iran "abandons" Hamas, Khamenei: We will not go to war for you

Hamas is fighting for survival against a vengeful Israel, which has vowed to wipe out the organization and launched a revenge attack on Gaza that has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians.

Alone in the face of an IDF frenzy, Hamas leaders have repeatedly called on the Arab world to unite in front of Tel Aviv.

On October 7, Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif called on his Axis allies to join the fight.

" Our brothers in the Islamic resistance in Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, this is the day your resistance joins your people in Palestine ," he said in an audio message.

But his call did not seem to get the support Hamas expected, and disappointment was expressed on October 16 by Khaled Meshaal, who in a televised interview thanked Lebanese Hezbollah for its actions so far, but said "the battle requires more " .

In order to give voice to the "abandonment" of Hamas, the leader of this alliance, Iran, has thought that it will not intervene directly in the conflict unless it is attacked by Israel or the United States.

According to the Reuters news agency , Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a clear message to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh when they met in Tehran in early November that Iran will continue to give the group its political support. and morals, but will not directly intervene in the conflict.

According to three senior officials in Tehran cited by Reuters, Khamenei said: " You gave us no warning about your October 7 attack on Israel, and we will not go to war on your behalf ."

The supreme leader has also pressured Haniyeh to silence the voices of the Palestinian group publicly calling on Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah to join the battle against Israel in full force.

Iran's clerical rulers plan to continue using their axis network of armed allies, including Hezbollah, to launch missile and drone attacks on Israeli and American targets across the Middle East, but deny involving their own forces. in conflict.

Three sources close to Hezbollah also told Reuters that they too were surprised by the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. Lebanese fighters were not even on standby in the villages near the border that were the front line in Hezbollah's war with Israel in 2006 and had to be called in quickly.

" We woke up to a war ," said a Hezbollah commander.

The unfolding crisis marks the first time that the so-called "Axis of Resistance" - a military alliance built by Iran over four decades to oppose Israeli and American power in the Middle East - has been mobilized on several fronts at the same time.

Hezbollah has been involved in the worst clashes with Israel for nearly 20 years. Iran-backed militias have targeted US forces in Iraq and Syria, while Yemen's Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel.

The conflict is also testing the limits of the regional coalition, whose members - which include the Syrian government, Hezbollah, Hamas and other militant groups from Iraq to Yemen - have different priorities and internal challenges. (A2 Televizion)