Israel can’t cope with prolonged war in Gaza Strip, says IRGC chief

The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Israel cannot withstand a prolonged onslaught against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the regime’s prime minister is intent on continuing the war solely for personal interests.

Major General Hossein Salami made the remarks on Wednesday as he addressed a gathering at the premises of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in the capital Tehran.

The occupying regime, from military and political perspectives, cannot manage a war for a sustained period of time, the general pointed out.

Salami went on to highlight that 30% of jobs in the occupied lands have been lost as a result of Israel’s war against Hamas and other Gaza-based resistance groups, emphasizing that the onslaught is also costing the Israeli regime’s economy around $260 million every day.

The main reason behind the continuation of the Gaza war is Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal interests, the IRGC chief said, noting Israel exhibited a weak and humiliating response in the face of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.

He underscored that Palestinian resistance groups have so far employed only a small fraction of their capabilities.

“Zionists and Americans do not act rationally … Palestinian generations have learned whom they should fight against… The oppressed Palestinian nation will win final victory,” Salami said.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupied territories in response to the regime’s intensified violence against Palestinians.

More than 16,000 Palestinians have been killed in the US-backed war, most of them women and children.