Hamas and Islamic Jihad are outraged by the words of a senior Iranian general in the Revolutionary Guards, who described them as simple tools in Iran's hands.
There is great anger in the Gaza Strip over the statements of a senior Iranian general about the connection between Iran and Hamas and Islamic Jihad. General Alam Ali Rashid, a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, said on September 26 that General Qassem Suleimani, a former commander of the Quds Force, who had been killed by the U.S. military two years ago at Baghdad airport, announced three months before his death to the commanders of the armed forces that he had established 6 armies outside Iran and that this would help the Iranian army and the "Revolutionary Guards" to defend Iran.
According to him, the military axis established by Qassem Suleimani stretches for a distance of 1,500 km from the borders of Iran to the shores of the Mediterranean.
At the time, Qassem Suleimani said that if the enemy wanted to harm the Iranian regime he would have to deal with these armies first and foremost.
General Rashid explained that these armies are: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, the Houthi "Ansar Allah" forces in Yemen, the "Al-Khasd a-Shaabi" militias in Iraq and the Syrian army.
"This is the deterrent to attacks on Iran," he explained.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been hit hard by the remarks of the Iranian general, who presented them as mere tools in Iran's hands. The Islamic Jihad was quick to issue an official statement that "the resistance exists only in the face of the Israeli occupation and is not related to any other goal, the resistance forces of the Palestinian people have existed since the establishment of the" Zionist project "and the occupation of Palestine.
As is well known, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been receiving support for money and weapons from Iran for many years. Islamic Jihad is the Palestinian faction closest to Iran but disagrees with it on Arab issues.
Ziad Nahala, the leader of the Islamic Jihad, gave an interview to the Arab Brotherhood, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, after Operation The Wall Guard in the Gaza Strip, in which he objected to the connection between his organization and Iran and stressed that the Islamic Jihad is a Palestinian organization. Pure and not an Iranian organization.
General Alam Ali Rashid's remarks caused great resentment in the Gaza Strip, many saw them as unprecedented political humiliation for Hamas and Islamic Jihad, these are Sunni Palestinian organizations but the Iranian general presented them as if they were Shiite organizations receiving orders from the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali H. Minai.
Sources in the Gaza Strip say that many residents laughed at the words of the Iranian general who described the presence of the 6 armies as a military buffer that could not be overcome while ignoring the "evasive" F-35's in the hands of Israel as well as the "Jericho" missiles that carry nuclear warheads which can easily reach Tehran.
This is not a word of mouth from the Iranian general, his remarks do reflect the thinking of the Iranian leadership, which believes it can impose orders, at any given moment, on Hamas and Islamic Jihad and they will be carried out immediately without independent judgment.
The assessment in the Territories is that the Fatah movement will use these issues to strike at Hamas and Islamic Jihad because they are not authentic Palestinian "national movements" but tools in Iran's hands to carry out its agendas in the region, Israel does not have to make much effort, General Alam Ali Rashid provides Israel with good ammunition for the "Hasbara" efforts on the Iranian threat.