India can use its influence to convince Israel to stop genocide in Gaza: Iran's envoy

New Delhi, August 6: Terming India as a "big power" and "important country" Iran's Ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi on Tuesday said that there is an expectation that New Delhi can and should play a more active role in the current crisis in West Asia.

Speaking to ANI, Elahi stated that India has good ties with Israel and can use its influence to stop the genocide in this region and Gaza and keep the peace in Palestine.

On being asked about India's role amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia, the Iranian envoy said, "Since the beginning of the tragic events and crimes of Israel in Gaza, I repeatedly mentioned that India is an important country, is a big power and influential country in the international community. Beside this, it has good relations with Israel and Iran and also India, as a non-aligned movement founder had supported Palestine case in the history of the region."

"So, there is an expectation that India can and should play more active role in the current crisis in the region and tensions in the region. You know, the government of India has very good relation with the ruling party in Israel and the government of Israel. So, it can use its influence to convince them to stop this genocide in the region and in Gaza and stop crimes and keep the peace in Palestine. From the Iranian side, we are in collaboration with India in many cases and we hope that, you know, we are trying to convince India to keep peace in the region," he said.

Over 2000 Hamas militants breached Israeli borders on October 7, killing 1200 Israelis and taking around 250 as hostages, out of whom around 120 are still in Hamas captivity, with many of them feared dead.

Following this, Israel launched a strong counteroffensive, carrying out military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with the aim of "completely eliminating" the group, however, even after over nine-months of the war on Gaza, Israel has not achieved its stated objective even as it has killed 39,923 Palestinian and injured 91,469 humans.

The tensions in West Asia have further escalated after Hamas' political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran's capital, Tehran on July 31.

On July 31, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that Ismail Haniyeh had been killed in an attack in Tehran. A projectile hit a residence allocated to war veterans in Tehran at 2 am (local time), according to a Press TV report.

Haniyeh, who was based in Qatar, travelled to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian President-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian, according to a Press TV report.

On August 1, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Thursday announced that Hamas military wing commander Mohammed Deif had been killed in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on July 13.

In a post on X, IDF stated, "We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated."The Israeli military said that it obtained intelligence confirming his death in the past few hours. Deif was targeted in a strike at Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade commander Rafa'a Salameh's compound in Khan Younis area on July 13, The Times of Israel reported.

A day later, the IDF confirmed the death of Salameh. However, it did not have final information on Deif. The IDF believed that its intelligence indicated that Deif visiting the compound belonging to Salameh was highly accurate and the two Hamas military officials were together in the building that was hit with several heavy munitions, according to The Times of Israel report.

Meanwhile, the IDF said that top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in the Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Tuesday (local time).The IDF said Shukr was "responsible for the majority of Hezbollah's most advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets, and UAVs" and for the terror group's "force build-up, planning, and execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel," The Times of Israel reported.

On July 30, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his nation has delivered "crushing blows" to enemies in the last few days, CNN reported. He made the remarks hours after the deaths of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.