DUBAI, January 24. /TASS/. General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC, elite units of the Iranian Armed Forces), believes that the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas was a strategic defeat for the US, Western countries and the Jewish state.
"The US, the Zionist regime and the West as a whole have suffered the greatest defeat in this war. The Zionist regime, which considered itself the most powerful country in the region, is falling apart today as a result of actions by resistance forces," he told the Iranian state broadcaster.
The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated after armed Hamas supporters from the Gaza Strip infiltrated into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, killing residents in border settlements and seizing more than 240 hostages. In response, Israel launched a military operation in the enclave with the aim to destroy Hamas and secure the release of the abductees. In the Israeli operation at least 47,000 Palestinians were killed and 111,000 others injured from October 2023 to January 2025.
On January 15, mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States announced an agreement between Israel and Hamas on the release of hostages and the establishment of a ceasefire. On January 19, it went into effect. In the first phase of the deal, which will last 42 days, Hamas will release 33 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Jewish jails. The radicals released three hostages on the first day, while the Israeli authorities released 90 prisoners. Israel’s ambassador to Russia, Simona Galperin, has told TASS that the list of 33 hostages included Russian national Alexander Trufanov, who also has Israeli citizenship.