Gazans spare little thought for Iran’s Raisi, saying he failed to ease Palestinian suffering

Gazans are sparing little thought for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash, saying he had failed to ease the suffering in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

Raisi was confirmed dead this morning after search and rescue teams found the remains of his helicopter, which crashed last night in a fog-shrouded western mountain region of Iran.

Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip and receives financial and military support from Iran, paid tribute to Raisi’s “support for the Palestinian resistance, and tireless efforts in solidarity” with Palestinians.

But Gazans in the central city of Deir al-Balah, an area which has been hit by fighting between Israel and Hamas since the Palestinian terror group’s October 7 massacre, tell AFP that Raisi’s legacy had been tarnished by inaction over their plight.

“He never supported us, never kept his promises, never called for a ceasefire, and never stood by us. He does not concern us at all,” says Naji Khodeir, a resident of the city, which now hosts large numbers of Gazans fleeing fighting further south.

“He means nothing to us and nothing to Gaza,” says Βilal Khodary, a displaced Gazan.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.