Iran's IRGC Says Hamas Assassination Reflects Israel's 'Defeat'

A high-ranking commander from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the latest assassination of a senior Hamas figure reflects Israel's 'ongoing defeat'.

According to Al-Mayadeen, Esmail Qaani (Ghaani), the commander of Iran's extraterritorial Quds Force wrote to political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, that Israel 'seeks to mitigate its heavy defeat in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

However, the results on the ground tell a different story. Israel's Defence Forces announced it has now taken out all Hamas infrastructure in north Gaza and numerous top commanders have been eliminated, with the operation predicted to last several more months as the Jewish state vows to eliminate the designated terror group.

Since the beginning of the month, Israel has also withdrawn five whole units from Gaza as the operation continues to gain pace from air, land and sea, in a bid to reduce casualties while it makes significant gains in the strip.

An airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday claimed the life of Saleh Al Arouri, Hamas's deputy political leader. Known for his close ties to the Iranian regime, Arouri had engaged with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top officials on multiple occasions. Qaani, in his message, emphasized that "the enemies and Zionists seek to mitigate their significant setbacks in Gaza by targeting the leaders of the resistance."

As a founding member of Hamas' military wing, Arouri had led the group's presence in the West Bank. Since the Hamas terror attacks of October 7 which sparked the most violent conflict since Hamas took over control of the strip, Israel also destroyed Arouri's West Bank family home.

Qaani said in the letter: "The world will witness how the brothers of the martyr Al-Arouri will turn into the nightmare of the Zionist child-killing regime."

While Iran openly supports Hamas, it denies any involvement in the Islamist militants' October 7 terror attack.