The commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Israel would pay a high price for its latest attacks on the Palestinians in Gaza, Iranian state TV reported.
"The Israelis will pay yet another heavy price for their recent crime," it quoted Major General Hossein Salami as saying in reference to Israeli air strikes on Gaza, as he met with Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhala who is currently in Iran.
The Turkish Foreign Minister has also said that Turkey condemns Israel for the attack on Gaza, an official statement said.
US Ambassador
While the US supports Israel's right to defend itself, it urges both sides to bring calm to the region, according to US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides on Friday amid the IDF's Operation Breaking Dawn in the Gaza Strip.
"We are engaging with different parties and urge all sides for calm," he said in a tweet on Friday night.
The United States firmly believes that Israel has a right to protect itself. We are engaging with different parties and urge all sides for calm.
— Ambassador Tom Nides (@USAmbIsrael) August 5, 2022
UN Special Coordinator
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland, in the meantime, said that there can be "no justification" for attacks against civilians.
This, he said after talking about those killed amid the IDF operation. "In the past few hours, at least 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes," he said. "I am deeply saddened by reports that a five-year-old child has been killed in these strikes."
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan expressed outrage in response to Wennesland's message, tweeting, "While the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is launching missiles at Israeli civilians, the UN envoy expresses 'deep concern' for the neutralization of a senior terrorist behind an imminent attack on Israelis. Will he also express deep concern over the neutralization of al-Zawahiri?"
While the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is launching missiles at Israeli civilians, the UN envoy expresses “deep concern” for the neutralization of a senior terrorist behind an imminent attack on Israelis. Will he also express deep concern over the neutralization of al-Zawahiri? https://t.co/Ozx0LXeil8
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) August 5, 2022
Erdan later said that "Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a radical terror proxy of the Ayatollah regime in Iran and its clearly stated goal is the destruction of the State of Israel... Israel expects the international community and the United Nations to stop making false and immoral comparisons between a law-abiding democracy and radical terror organizations and to support Israel's right to defend its citizens."
Wennesland further recognized the dangers of these escalations and called on both sides to stop attacking immediately.
"The progress made in gradually opening Gaza since the end of the May escalation risks being undone, leading to even greater humanitarian needs at a time when global resources are stretched and international financial support for a renewed humanitarian effort in Gaza will not be easily available," said Wennesland.
He concluded, "The UN is fully engaged with all concerned in an attempt to avoid a further conflict which would have devastating consequences, mainly for civilians. The responsibility is with the parties to avoid this from happening."
"The UN is fully engaged with all concerned in an attempt to avoid a further conflict which would have devastating consequences, mainly for civilians. The responsibility is with the parties to avoid this from happening."
Tor Wennesland
Breaking Dawn
His was one of the few international reactions to the escalations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Throughout Friday evening alone, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired a massive volley of rockets into southern Israel and made moves to launch targeted attacks against civilians throughout all of Israel.
Israel launched a targeted attack earlier in the afternoon in the Gaza Strip, striking multiple targets belonging to the group and killed close to a dozen operatives including the head of the group in the northern part of the enclave.
Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.