Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Urges Muslim Countries To Boycott Israel

Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Wikimedia Commons/Khademei.ir)

JAKARTA - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Muslim countries to stop exporting oil and food to Israel, demanding an end to bombing the Gaza Strip, according to state media.

"The bombing in Gaza must be stopped immediately. The route of oil and food exports to the Zionist regime must be stopped," Khamenei said.

Khamenei himself said the United States was involved in Israel's recent crimes against Palestinians.

"The Islamic world must not forget, in the crucial issue in Gaza, those who oppose the Palestinian people who are oppressed are the United States, France and Britain," said Khamenei.

Israel, which Tehran does not want to admit, has long accused Iranian clerics of triggering violence by supplying weapons to Hamas. Instead, Tehran said it provided moral and financial support to the group that controls the Gaza Strip.

"One of the baseless actions of the West is to accuse Palestinian fighters of terrorism," Khamenei said.

Earlier, Iranian clerics had warned Israel of an escalation if they did not end the aggression against Palestinians. Authorities indicated Tehran-backed proxies in the Middle East were ready to take action.

It is known, supporting the Palestinian struggle has been a political pillar of Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Israel itself has pledged to destroy Hamas, in retaliation for an attack on its southern region on October 7, carrying out a bombing and a total blockade of the Gaza Strip region.

As of Tuesday, the death toll from the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip has reached 8,525 people, the Health Ministry in Gaza said, quoted by Anadolu.

"The victims included 3,542 children and 2,187 women, while 21,543 others were injured," ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told a news conference in Gaza City.

Furthermore, he said the ministry had received reports that some 2,000 people were still trapped under the rubble, including 1,100 children.

Al-Qudra added 130 medics were killed and 25 ambulances destroyed in Israeli airstrikes since October 7.

"The occupation forces deliberately targeted 57 health facilities, forcing 15 hospitals and 32 primary care centers to not work," he added.

On the other hand, more than 1,538 Israelis were killed and 5,400 others as a result of Hamas attacks, as well as more than 200 people detained as hostages.