Oct. 27 (UPI) — Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the supreme leader in Iran, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday public comments for the first time since Israel’s retaliatory strikes Saturday on military targets in Iran.
Khamenei urged the “world must stand against Zionist regime” and Netanyahu said “we kept our promise and severely damaged Iran’s defense capacity and its ability to produce missiles that work against us.”
Khamanei said in a series of posts made to social media in English: “The actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza and Lebanon are among the most horrific war crimes. War is difficult, but it has its rules and laws, and limits.
“The world must stand against Zionist regime to prevent these crimes from being committed in Gaza and Lebanon. A global political, economic, and if necessary military coalition must be formed against the evil regime that is currently perpetrating the most horrific war crimes.”
Khamenei added that Israel made the “wrong move” when it attacked Iran two nights ago, killing at least four people. He vowed that the Iranian military would assess how to respond to the missile strike.
“We must make them understand the power, determination, and initiative of the Iranian people,” Khamenei said.
“Zionists are making a miscalculation with respect to Iran. They don’t know Iran. They still haven’t been able to correctly understand the power, initiative, and determination of the Iranian people. We need to make them understand these things.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian said, according to IRNA: “We do not seek war, but we will defend the rights of the people and the nation, and we will give an appropriate response to the Zionist entity’s aggression.”
He accused the United States of “provoking the regime into committing these crimes.”
At Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Netanyahu spoke at memorials for the victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Bereaved families interrupted interrupted his speech. One ceremony was for Israel’s fallen soldiers and another for civilians.
One person wore shorts that read – “we are not all together, I am an orphan.”
The ceremonies were a day of mourning that to mark the Hebrew date of the Hamas massacre, which occurred on the Simchat Torah holiday.
The bereaved families “embody the spirit of [King] David,” said Netanyahu, adding that this spirit “will win.”
“Beyond the memorializing, we have another important mission – the full rehabilitation of the Gaza border area and the North.”
He reiterated his commitment to the return of all of the hostages under Hamas captivity,.
Netanyahu also spoke about the “precise and powerful” strikes on Iran.
“In the early hours of Saturday morning, we kept our promise and severely damaged Iran’s defense capacity and its ability to produce missiles that work against us,” Netanyahu said.
“Yesterday we hit the head of the octopus. To the people of Iran I say – our struggle against a tyrannical regime that threatens the entire region. Whoever hurts us, we hurt them.”
He also all the “objectives” were met.
Netanyahu thanked the United States in the “close coordination and assistance” in the strikes on Iran.”
About 100 Israeli aircraft took part in the mission though not all entered Iranian airspace.
On Sunday, Iran’s state-run news agency, IRNA, said a civilian was “martyred’ on a strike in central Tehran. On Saturday, the news agency had said four Iranian army personnel died “while defending the country against the Zionist aggression.”
The United Nations Security Council will convene Monday following Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Iran, according to Israel’s mission to the U.N. Iran requested the meeting, claiming that Israel violated international law.
Elsewhere in Middle East developments:Talks aimed at restarting hostage and ceasefire negotiations for Gaza were to resume Sunday in Doha, Qatar, for the first time in two months. Negotiators are the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday proposed a two-day ceasefire deal in which four Israeli hostages in Gaza would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.In northern Gaza, at least 30 medical staff members were detained during Israeli raids at Kamal Adwan Hospital, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, posted on X that Israel’s military has created “catastrophic” conditions in northern Gaza.
In west of Gaza City, an Israeli strike killed several people at the Asmaa school, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense.
In northern Tel Aviv in Israel, first responders say at least one person died and more than 30 injured after a truck rammed a bus near a military base. Israeli authorities say was a deliberate attack.In southern Lebanon, Israel Defense Forces said five Israeli soldiers were killed on Saturday. Originally four were reported killed. A total of 32 Israeli soldiers have now been killed in southern Lebanon since Oct. 1, according to a CNN tally. At least 771 Israeli soldiers have been killed, including 360 in the Gaza Strip, since the Oct. 7, 2023 war.In northern Israel, the Israeli military said that about 75 projectiles were fired from Lebanon Sunday. Damage was reported to a building in Tamra in Galilee.