Haniyeh and Pezeshkian discuss developments in ‘genocidal war’ on Gaza

The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, and new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held discussions yesterday on developments in Israel’s ongoing “genocidal war” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israel has been waging the war, with US support, since last October. It has killed or wounded almost 130,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women; more than 10,000 are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes destroyed by the occupation state.

A statement from the Islamic Resistance Movement said that Haniyeh presented Pezeshkian with the details of Israel’s “heinous massacres” of civilians, including the Khan Yunis and Al-Shati massacres on Saturday. “These were carried out under the pretext of false claims about targeting resistance leaders,” it said.

Fifteen more Palestinians were killed and 80 others were wounded, including children and women, in an Israeli attack on a school housing displaced people in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip yesterday. This was the third massacre in two days, in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed, with hundreds more wounded.

“These massacres are being committed despite the positive position of Hamas and the resistance factions regarding the ceasefire negotiations,” Haniyeh pointed out. “However, in his recent statements, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu set new conditions that were not included in the proposals exchanged through the mediators, which confirms his desire for the continuation and escalation of the aggression.”

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In order to agree to a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, Netanyahu stipulated recently that the occupation state must retain the freedom to resume the war against Hamas, the continued presence of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, and the occupation’s control over the Philadelphi (Salah Al-Din) axis on the border, as well as the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. These are things that Hamas rejects.

According to the statement, Haniyeh expressed his “appreciation” for the positions of the Islamic Republic on Palestine and the resistance, and its support for the Palestinian cause on various levels. He expressed his hope to exert more political and diplomatic efforts to push towards stopping the aggression against the Palestinian people.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the brutal attack by the [Israeli] occupation on the displaced population in Al-Mawasi area,” said Pezeshkian. “This horrific crime indicates the entity’s desire to continue genocide and break the will of resistance, but it will fail in doing so.”

The Iranian president stressed that his country will not leave the Palestinian people alone in these difficult circumstances. “Our government will put the Palestinian issue at the top of its priorities as it is the crucial issue of the Islamic world. We are doing our best to work to stop the war and stop the genocide, and the long-term step required is to end the occupation, and for the Palestinian people to obtain their full rights.”

Pezeshkian was elected a week ago to succeed the late President Ibrahim Raisi, who was killed, along with an accompanying delegation, when a helicopter in which they were flying crashed in East Azerbaijan Province.

READ: Nasrallah: Israel’s Mawasi massacre is proof of the injustice and tyranny Palestinians experience