In early November, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi spoke with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, according to Reuters quoting an unnamed source. The conversation reportedly included a call for a pause and an explicit invitation for Tehran to participate in Gaza’s ongoing confrontations with Israel.
Tehran pressed Hamas to quell statements from its members who had urged Iran to play a more direct role. The discussion also touched on the involvement of allied groups, with the claim that Hezbollah would respond with full force against Israel if required.
Earlier, in October, Hamas launched a wide-scale rocket offensive against Israel, announcing the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The assault involved thousands of militants crossing into parts of Israel, seizing military gear, and detaining more than a hundred individuals. Israel answered with Operation Iron Sword in the Gaza Strip, pledging to dismantle Hamas. The Israeli response contributed to a blockade around Gaza, intensive air and ground bombardment, and repeated calls for the displacement of a large portion of Gaza’s population toward southern areas of the enclave.
Israel has previously labeled the violence in Gaza as brutal and condemned the tactics employed by militant groups operating there.