Hundreds of thousands of people from across the world marched on Friday to mark the International Quds Day in support for Palestine.
This Friday, hundreds of thousands of people in different countries across the world took to the streets and held rallies to mark the International Quds Day in support for the oppressed people of Palestine who are under Israel’s illegal occupation.
The International Quds Day falls on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims and non-Muslims around the world hold rallies to show their solidarity with Palestinians.
But this year’s demonstrations were different from the previous years due to the ongoing war in Gaza, a nearly 6-months-long bloody and violent clash in Palestinian lands in which Israel has so far killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
To make matters worse, Israel has been completely ignorant to the everyday increasing demands for ceasefire even from the United States, Israel’s most strategic ally. Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.
The largest demonstrations were held in Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, and the occupied West Bank, as well as in India, Bahrain, South Africa, Ireland, and the UK. But in Iran, Friday’s rallies were more than just another show of solidarity and support for Palestinians.
Iran vowed response to Israel on Quds Day!
In addition to expressing support for Palestine in the face of Israel’s decades-long occupation, Iranians took to the streets in different cities across the country to also send a message of revenge to Israel.
Last week on Monday, Israeli jet fighters carried out a deadly attack and targeted Iran’s consulate building in Syria, killing 7 top members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Immediately after the attack, Iranian officials rebuked Israel and the US for the assassination and promised to give a proper response to the perpetrators of this crime.
On Friday, state television in Iran showed top government, judiciary and military officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi and Quds Force leader Esmail Qaani, walking among demonstrators in Tehran and other cities across the country.
Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was also among the demonstrators in Tehran. Attending the funeral of the officers killed in Damascus that was held the same day, he said speaking to the crowed that Israel will be punished for the attack.
“Our brave men will punish the Zionist regime. We warn that no act by any enemy against our holy system will go unanswered and the art of the Iranian nation is to break the power of empires,” Salami said.
He also noted that Israel is facing nothing but “defeat” in its war on Gaza regardless of whether it keeps attacking or retreats, adding that messages coming from Palestinian fighters in the enclave say “we will bury the Zionist regime in Gaza”.
Washington and Tel Aviv fear Iran’s response!
Following Iranian officials promising to respond to Israel’s Monday attack, U.S. officials said on Friday that they were bracing for possible Iranian retaliation for the Israeli airstrike in Damascus.
The US Defense Ministry, for example, issued a statement and announced that all the American military forces in the region have been placed on heightened alert for possible Iranian attacks.
Israeli media also reported, citing Israeli officials, that Tel Aviv has placed its military on high alert, calling off any leave for combat units, recalling some reservists to air defense units, and blocking GPS signals out of precaution.
