Blinken In Tel Aviv, Iran Calls On Islamic World To Unite Against Israel

Hamas took everyone – from Iran to the USA, from Russia to China, from the CIA to the all-powerful Mossad – by surprise. “US intelligence has received credible information about Iranian leaders’ confusion over the Hamas attack on Israel,” the New York Times wrote, citing senior officials in Washington.

Over the past six days, the attack has already claimed the lives of thousands of people and is causing new casualties every hour, primarily among civilians. Jewish residents of kibbutzim are dying, residents of the Gaza Strip are dying. More than 100,000 people were forced to flee to Egypt, which immediately closed its borders and called on Israel and the Palestinians to “resolve their conflicts strictly within their national territories.”

Gaza’s hospitals “risk soon to become morgues and cemeteries” due to power outages resulting from Israel’s bombing of the enclave, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned. “When electricity goes out in Gaza, newborns in incubators and elderly patients receiving oxygen are at risk,” said the ICRC’s regional director for the Near and Middle East, Fabrizio Carboni. “As a neutral intermediary, we are ready to conduct humanitarian visits, facilitate communication between hostages and their families, and facilitate eventual release,” Carboni emphasized.

Attempting to urgently carry out mediation efforts, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday, October 12. On the first stage of his trip, he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, members of the government, and President Isaac Herzog. According to media reports, Blinken will also visit the families of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas and taken to Gaza.

On Friday, as stated by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Secretary General Hussein al-Sheikh, Blinken will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). “As part of the ongoing efforts by the Palestinian leadership to end this destructive war and as part of the joint efforts by Jordan and Palestine, Abbas is meeting with King Abdullah in Amman on Thursday. On Friday, October 13, President Abbas will also meet with US Secretary of State Blinken,” al-Sheikh wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) social media account.

Developing statements made in the USA, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Bundestag in Berlin that “so far we have not received any real evidence that Iran provided specific and operational support for this cowardly attack by Hamas.” At the same time, for Scholz, “it is obvious that without Iranian support, Hamas would not have been able to carry out such an unprecedented attack on Israel.”

Iran, which still categorically denies its involvement in the war, appealed to the “Islamic world” to unite against Israel. According to the Iranian news agency Mehr, during a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said that “all Islamic and Arab countries, as well as the population that wants freedom in the world, must reach an agreement and cooperate towards ending the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian nation.” According to Raisi, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will try to develop such a common position as soon as possible by contacting Islamic countries.”

Earlier, the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said “that he supports Palestine.” The head of the Muslim-majority Russian republic called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. “If necessary, we are ready to send our military units as peacekeeping forces to restore order and fight those who create problems. I also appeal to the leaders of Muslim countries: create a coalition and call those whom you consider friends, Europe and the entire West, so that they at least do not bomb civilians under the pretext of striking terrorists,” Kadyrov wrote on Telegram.