File image.
Esmail Qaani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, told the state TV on June 5 that the Palestinian Hamas Movement would soon rebuild, while warning the United States and Israel that the allies of the Islamic Republic still had unrevealed capabilities across the region.
The remarks came after Iran and the U.S. reached a peace deal, which also includes casing hostilities on other fronts, namely Lebanon.
Qaani said that Hezbollah’s power in Lebanon had not been fully revealed, adding: “No one can stand against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and everything you have seen from Hezbollah in Lebanon is only the tip of the iceberg.”
Qaani also described the Bab al-Mandab Strait as one of the strategic assets of the so-called “Resistance Front.” The vital global maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean is within reach of the Houthis, the main allies of the Islamic Republic in Yemen.
“Bab al-Mandab is one of the winning cards of the Resistance Front, and if necessary, other cards will also be revealed,” Qaani said.
Addressing the U.S. and Israel, the Quds Force commander warned: “Do not get involved with the Resistance Front. Wherever you confronted the resistance, you were left with no dignity.”
Notably, Qaani’s remarks on Hamas rebuilding came after a report by The Times of Israel revealing that the group’s latest response to mediators during disarmament talks in Cairo amounts to an effective rejection of key components of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan,
A source familiar with the talks told the news website that Hamas attempted through media reports to present its response as more cooperative, while “in practice it looks much closer to a no,” adding that the response can’t yet be categorized as “a formal rejection because the final proposal is not public.”
“Hamas is still trying to avoid the core requirement, which is clear disarmament,” the source continues, stressing that according to Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, which was backed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803, “Hamas has to lay down its weapons. If they are trying to condition this on Israeli withdrawal first, keep weapons under their influence, or change the sequencing, then it does not meet the standard.”
Other sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that if Hamas ultimately refuses to disarm, the Board of Peace is preparing to invoke Article 17 of the plan, under which reconstruction would proceed only in areas under Israeli military control.
Israel has not ceased strikes on Gaza since the peace plan entered into effect, and recently there have been increasing signs that fighting could resume there. Hebrew media even reported that Hamas was rearming, reorganizing, and even collecting intelligence.
One of the stated goals of the American-Israeli war on Iran was to force the Islamic Republic to halt support to its regional allies. However, Qaani’s latest remarks shows that Tehran will not back down, not even when it comes to helping Hamas rebuild in Gaza.
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um, probably not, israels idf is in gaza, permanently, with live rounds, hamas can get themselves shot, but thats about it
send egyptians home, then saudi arabians, gaza should stand empty