Iran holds state-organized rallies in support of Palestinians

State-organized rallies were held across Iran on Friday in support of Tehran’s Palestinian Islamist ally Hamas and against the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the blockaded Gaza Strip, state TV reported.

Israel’s military on Friday called for all civilians of Gaza City — more than 1 million people — to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks for an expected ground offensive in response to a devastating attack by Hamas militants.

“Death to Israel. Death to Zionism!” shouted Iranian demonstrators, many carrying Palestinian flags and those of the powerful Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated in countries around the Middle East and beyond on Friday in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its siege of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Israel has been pounding Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire since the deadliest ever Hamas attack on Israel last weekend.

Tehran’s state television described the Iranian rallies as “screams of a common pain … The pain of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) trampling on humanity.”

However, the Islamic Republic’s government’s unwavering support for Hamas and other militant Palestinian and Lebanese groups does not have wide popular support in Iran. Many complain that the large sums of financial aid Tehran gives to Hamas and Hezbollah are more needed for economic development at home.

Backing the Palestinian cause has been a political pillar of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and a way in which its Shiite Muslim theocracy has fashioned Iran as a leader in the Muslim world.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was in Beirut on Friday to discuss the Israel-Hamas war with Hezbollah.