TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday vowed retaliation for attacks by Zionist entity and its US ally, as a pro-Iran coalition in Iraq claimed a drone strike on Zionist entity’s resort of Eilat. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq is among pro-Iran groups drawn into more than a year of war between Zionist entity and Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Days before the presidential election in Zionist entity’s main military supplier, the United States, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Iran’s response would cover attacks on both the Islamic republic and its allies. Zionist entity’s military said it intercepted three drones over the Red Sea, after late Friday reporting seven drones launched from “several fronts”. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for four drone strikes on Eilat.

On Saturday, Zionist entity again carried out deadly air strikes on north Gaza, where the UN calls conditions “apocalyptic”, and Hezbollah intensified rocket fire near Zionist entity’s commercial hub of Tel Aviv. “The enemies, both the USA and the Zionist regime, should know that they will definitely receive a tooth-breaking response,” Khamenei said, referring to Iran-aligned groups including those in Yemen and Syria.

On October 26, Zionist entity bombed military sites in Iran, killing four servicemen, in response to an October 1 barrage of about 200 missiles that Tehran called a reprisal. Zionist entity has warned Iran against responding to the October 26 attack.

Analysts say Zionist entity inflicted severe damage on Iranian air defenses and missile capacities and could yet launch more wide-scale action against the Islamic republic. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have repeatedly attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, are transforming themselves into a “powerful military organization” due to “unprecedented” military support from outside sources, particularly Iran and Hezbollah, said a newly published UN report.

Ahead of the US election on Tuesday, officials in the United States have been pushing for a resolution of the Lebanon war. On Friday, the Pentagon announced deployment of ballistic missile defense destroyers, long-range B-52 bombers and other resources to the Middle East, serving as a warning to Iran.

The capabilities would begin arriving “in coming months”, a Pentagon spokesman said. US naval forces and heavy B-2 bombers have struck Houthi rebel targets in Yemen in response to the attacks by the rebels, who say they act in support of Palestinians. Since October 6, Zionist entity forces have carried out a major air and ground assault on north Gaza, centered on the Jabalia area, vowing to stop attempts by Hamas militants from regrouping.

“The situation unfolding in north Gaza is apocalyptic,” said a joint statement by UN agency heads.

“The area has been under siege for almost a month, denied basic aid and life-saving supplies while bombardment and other attacks continue,” they said. “The entire Palestinian population in north Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.” In the Gaza City area, medics administered polio vaccines to children. The World Health Organization had said the necessary second round would begin in the territory’s north on Saturday, after Zionist entity bombing halted the drive. Witnesses said Zionist entity warplanes twice hit Beit Lahia, adjacent to Jabalia, overnight. —AFP