Khamenei urges Muslim nations to unite against Israel, US amid unrest

Khamenei urged Muslim leaders to confront Israel and the US as violence escalated in Gaza and the West Bank. His appeal landed amid settler attacks, a likely deportation and renewed scrutiny of regional fractures.Image used for representational purposes onlyIran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has called on Muslim countries to unite against Israel and the United States, saying leaders in the Islamic world must recognise their "real enemy". His remarks came amid fresh violence in the occupied West Bank and another deadly Israeli strike in Gaza.In separate developments on Saturday and Sunday, NBC said Israeli settlers attacked one of its news crews in the West Bank, while a British activist faced deportation after settlers seized him and handed him over to police. In Gaza, hospital authorities said an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah killed at least two Palestinians, including a three-year-old boy.According to Iran's official IRNA news agency, Khamenei made the appeal in a letter to religious leaders from Islamic countries attending a conference in Tehran. He described the US and Israel as enemies of all Islamic nations and wrote, "My enduring and repeating advice to rulers of Islamic nations is to know your real enemy, understand its plans and confront it."Six months after the US and Israel attacked Iran, killing Khamenei's father and other senior leaders, he has not been seen publicly. The war has also exposed deep divisions in the Muslim world after Iran struck targets in neighbouring Gulf Arab countries and restricted movement through the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has also opposed the US military presence in neighbouring nations. NBC said settlers attacked its crew in the central West Bank on Saturday while they were interviewing a Palestinian woman who said she had been driven out of her home. The network said correspondent Matt Bradley, two other crew members and the woman were treated for injuries, without giving further details. It also shared footage showing masked settlers approaching the crew with sticks and beating their vehicles.Israel's military said it was "aware of reports of Palestinian injuries, including a Palestinian woman who sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was evacuated by the Red Crescent for medical treatment". It did not comment on the reported attack on the NBC crew. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare condemnation of settler violence on Saturday after a growing wave of such attacks in the West Bank. He has faced criticism from the US over the attacks. In another incident in the West Bank, lawyer Inbar Shaked Vardi said Israeli settlers seized British activist Finn Joughin from a Palestinian village on Saturday, locked him in a shed for half an hour and then handed him over to police. Video showed two settlers, one of them armed, restraining Joughin and leading him away.It was not clear what led to the incident. Settlers alleged that Joughin assaulted a child, which Vardi denied. Settlers pointed to a video in which the activist appeared to use his body to block a settler boy from passing through a fence, while Vardi said the footage showed he was trying to protect the village. "Without any hearing, the police have decided to move him to deportation, which just shows that this entire case has been political in the first place," Vardi said, adding that Joughin would likely be deported on Sunday night. A spokesperson for the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said embassy officials had raised the case with Israeli authorities and were seeking information.In Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a group of people in the western part of Deir al-Balah, killing a three-year-old boy and a man whom Israel's military identified as Hamas operative Hassam Osama Hussein Nasir. The military said he had "posed an immediate threat" but did not provide evidence. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said another Palestinian was wounded.The deaths were among the latest reported in Gaza since a fragile October ceasefire deal sought to halt more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Gaza's Health Ministry says Israeli fire has killed at least 1,318 Palestinians since that truce, as tensions across Iran, the West Bank and Gaza continue to unfold.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 30, 2026 20:34 IST