Igra discussed the ongoing negotiations for the second phase of the hostage deal and the accompanying American pressures. He emphasized that Hamas’s primary goal is to remain in power in Gaza, stating, “They want to continue ruling Gaza. They will do everything to make that happen.”

Alternative governance structure

He suggested that Hamas aims to establish a governance model similar to Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon, where the Palestinian Authority would serve as the official front while Hamas operates behind the scenes.

Regarding Israel’s strategy, Igra criticized the current approach, asserting that military action alone is insufficient to topple Hamas. He advocated for providing the residents of Gaza with an alternative governance structure, potentially through establishing a military administration that would introduce a different entity to lead.

Reflecting on past decisions, Igra remarked, “The State of Israel should have conquered Gaza.”

Igra also addressed the influence of American policy, expressing skepticism about the US administration’s priorities.

He noted that American pressure has significantly shaped the terms of the current deal, with Hamas and US influence determining the conditions rather than Israel.

Hajizadeh is also commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force.

“The world’s largest ballistic missile operation was carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and this demonstrates our power to defend our people,” he noted.

Hajizadeh justified Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel in April and October of last year, claiming the Islamic Republic’s actions were due to Israel’s “misconception that Iran would not take direct action because it was avoiding war.”

“We expected these clashes to be ping-pong matches, back and forth. We hadn’t prepared ourselves for a conflict, but it was natural that if the enemy took action, we would also react,” he said, likely referring to Israel, as he initially claimed in the Mehr report that “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” which was Hamas’s mass terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, was “a failure by Israel that cannot be repaired, and everyone sees that this failure is irreparable.”

“They [Israel] had created an unrealistic image of their power,” the report additionally quoted the Iranian general as saying. “But we see that they failed both in preventing the Al-Aqsa Flood operation and in negotiating a ceasefire.”

Hajizadeh also said the war brought “global awareness, which was a great achievement for Palestine and a great defeat imposed on the Zionist regime that can never be compensated.”

Iran’s attacks in October saw 1,800 rocket sirens sounding throughout Israel, with 180 ballistic missiles launched into the country. Only one casualty, a Palestinian worker from Gaza, was killed in the attack in the West Bank city of Jericho. The first ballistic missile attack in April seriously wounded a seven-year-old Bedouin girl from a village near Arad.

Referring to Israel’s air defense, Hajizadeh claimed, according to Mehr, “When we fired the missiles, they started firing anti-ballistic missiles in a panic, and some of these missiles hit each other by mistake, indicating the collapse of their defense system,” later adding that 75% of their missiles hit their target.

Claims that IRGC defense and missile production have advanced

The production line of the IRGC Aerospace Force has also continued, Hajizadeh added, “despite enemies’ efforts to stop it,” he claims in the report, and said that the Islamic Republic had made significant advancements in defense and drone capabilities, such as developing 2,000 km-range missiles and also an anti-ballistic missile defense system, a project which the Brigadier-General says began in 2022, and that it’ll be ready by next year, the report said.

Earlier this week, Mehr News also quoted IRGC deputy commander Brig.-Gen. Ali Fadavi, who said that Iran’s next attack would be carried out at an appropriate time, calling it Operation “True Promise 3” – referring to it as a continuation of Iran’s attacks from April and October.

Hajizadeh also echoed Fadavi’s statements in the more recent report. “The Americans and the Zionists are looking for concessions, and their threats are mostly psychological,” he said.