TEHRAN- The Israeli regime’s recent assassination of a key adviser for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in Syria, according to the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, is a result of the regime’s ongoing conflict with the Gaza Strip.

Addressing the Tel Aviv regime on Friday, Brigadier General Ismail Qaani said that “you assassinate Martyr Brigadier General Seyyed Razi Mousavi because you could not achieve anything in the Gaza battleground.”

Mousavi, a senior IRGC commander, was martyred in a missile attack by the regime against the Sayyeda Zeinab neighborhood of the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday. 

He was martyred while serving as part of Iran’s military advisory mission in the Arab country.

The strike occurred in the midst of the Israeli regime’s battle against Gaza, which began on October 7 in response to an operation known as Operation al-Aqsa Storm that was orchestrated by the resistance movements in the Palestinian territory. 

Al-Aqsa Storm, according to Qaani, was a reaction to “the extensive atrocities that the Zionist regime had committed against the Muslim people of Palestine.”

The Israeli military operation across the coastal sliver has resulted in the death of at least 21,320 persons, most of them women and children.

Yet, Tel Aviv has fallen short of any of its stated objectives, including the annihilation of the Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas, the release of those held captive during al-Aqsa Storm, and the forced displacement of Gaza’s population to neighboring countries.

Furthermore, Qaani pointed out that the Israeli regime and the U.S., which has been Tel Aviv’s most devoted supporter and has placed its whole military and political weight behind the the regime, had accomplished nothing throughout the attack but the demise of innocent women and children.

He also stressed that the U.S. had been helping Zionists with all of its might, but one day Washington would be held accountable for its horrendous crimes.

In contrast to the Zionist regime, which has enjoyed overwhelming Western backing, the people of Gaza have been entirely defended by the regional resistance front, Qaani pointed out.

The top commander averred that the Zionist regime has so far incurred a sizeable number of casualties, including thousands of fatalities and as many as 500 cases of blindness.

“They, however, are not courageous enough to announce the number of their casualties,” Qaani added. 

During a funeral procession on Thursday for General Mousavi, Major General Hossein Salami, the chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said that Iran’s response to Israel’s assassination of the top military advisor in Syria will be confined to the complete overthrow of the occupying regime.

“Seyyed Razi’s martyrdom came out of the incapability of the Zionist regime,” he said. “We will never exercise patience in the face of the martyrdom of our people. Seyyed Razi’s revenge will be nothing but the elimination of the Zionist regime.”

Salami said that Mousavi was “one of the most experienced and effective” resistance front commanders for the IRGC.

He stated that Mousavi had never strayed from the field of jihad (endeavor for the sake of God) throughout the last 45 years and that the commander was a close companion of Iran’s renowned anti-terror hero Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.

In January 2020, General Soleimani was assassinated in Iraq by the U.S. His pivotal role in combating the terrorist group Daesh Takfiri, which was founded by the U.S. and sponsored by Israel, was the reason for his great reverence across the region, especially in Iraq and Syria.

“He remained steadfast after the assassination of Haj Qassem and accompanied Qaani,” Salami said.

“The enemy knew him better than us because it had received severe blows from him. The enemy knew what role and influence he had on the endless chain of power.”

Salami said that the Palestinians themselves coordinated and carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, which was initiated on October 7 against Israel by Hamas. 

He said that the operation was a response to 75 years of Israeli occupation, atrocities against Palestinian youth, the regime’s nightly incursions into the West Bank, and the desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The resistance groups “Hamas and Jihad are capable of producing weapons inside Gaza… The resistance will not end, but what ends is the Zionist regime’s power.”

He went on to add, “Certainly, the Zionist regime is not capable of providing a peaceful life for the world’s Jews. It is not able to continue in the face of the people of Gaza.”

Addressing a conference of clerics and seminary teachers, held in the holy city of Qom on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian declared that more than 80 days had passed since the Gaza war, yet “the Zionist regime has achieved nothing.”

“According to Hamas commanders, only 14% of the resistance capacity has been damaged so far,” the foreign minister said.

According to Amir Abdollahian, the length of Hamas tunnels currently exceeds the region of Gaza, and drone production operations have not been shuttered for even an hour since Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on Oct. 7.

“Hamas captured valuable security and military forces of the Zionist regime on the first day of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm,” he continued.

The minister mentioned the resistance’s growing popularity, stating that Hamas now controls both Gaza and the ongoing war.

“The Zionist regime, meanwhile, has changed its goal in Gaza several times, but has failed,” the minister added.