The United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy have issued a joint statement urging Iran to refrain from violence outside of Gaza. This call was communicated through a joint statement released from the office of the French President on Monday.
The statement emphasizes that extremist factions from any party could exploit the volatile situation between Israel and Palestine. To prevent this, the countries urge against using this situation for any ulterior motives, especially concerning Iran, and advocate for the prevention of violence outside of Gaza.
On Saturday morning, Hamas, an armed organization advocating for Palestinian independence, initiated a large-scale attack in Israel. As a response, Israel launched extensive airstrikes in a shift from the usual pattern of Hamas-led attacks.
So far, nearly 1,500 people have lost their lives in the ongoing exchange of attacks between Hamas and Israel. Among them, 600 are Palestinians and 900 are Israelis.
Iran has expressed its support for Hamas in its attacks. In an interview with ABC News yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that in recent years, Hamas has become even more powerful with Iran’s support. However, as of now, the United States has not found direct evidence of Iran’s involvement in this specific attack by Hamas in Israel.
Reports about Iran’s assistance through its security forces to Hamas in the plan of the attack in Israel have been denied by Tehran.
