Quds Force Chief Stresses Support for Palestinian Resistance
TEHRAN (Dispatches) – A top Iranian commander has expressed support for the Palestinian resistance in fighting the Israeli aggression which is currently raging against the besieged Gaza Strip.
Quds Force chief General Esmail Qa’ani assured Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a telephone conversation of Iran’s full support for the Palestinian nation.
Haniyeh thanked Iran for its support, saying the fight against the occupying regime of Israel is not just the task of the Palestinian resistance but that of the entire Islamic world.
Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups have fired thousands of rockets at Zionist targets in retaliation for the occupying regime’s flare-up of violence that entered its seventh day on Sunday.
The number of people killed in Gaza since May 10 has climbed to at least 188, including 55 children and 33 women, according to the Palestinians. Some 1,230 people have also been injured. The Zionist regime has reported 10 dead.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday denounced Israel’s barbarism and massacre of the defenseless Palestinian people, urging Muslim countries and international organizations to bring an immediate halt to the Tel Aviv regime’s atrocities.
"The Palestinian issue is still the most important and most vivid common issue for the Muslim Ummah and it is a necessity to counter these crimes and put an immediate end to the brutal attacks and the killing of the oppressed and defenseless people,” Rouhani said in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He said Iran and Turkey, as two important and influential countries in the region, should improve cooperation and make collective efforts to utilize the capacity of international bodies such as the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to confront the Zionist regime’s crimes and acts of aggression.
For his part, Erdogan said the international community must work to deter the occupying regime of Israel and the Muslim world should also be united in discourse and action to that end.
The Turkish president expressed hope that participants at the OIC meeting would make a proper decision vis-à-vis Israel’s behavior.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister Muhammad Javad Zarif denounced Israel’s systematic human
rights violations and disregard for international law.
"Innocent men, women and children are being massacred by the deadliest and most sophisticated weapons. Homes are being demolished while their residents are trapped inside. Whatever remains of the infrastructure in Gaza—including power and water supply—is effectively destroyed,” he told an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that was held virtually.
Zarif said the massacre followed the purported "normalization” of ties between certain Arab countries and the occupying regime of Israel. The minister said "friendly gestures” are proven to aggravate the criminal and genocidal regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
He said the sole aim of Israel’s hypocritical gestures is to divide Muslims and isolate the people of Palestine.
"Make no mistake: Israel only understands the language of resistance and the people of Palestine are fully entitled to the right to defend themselves and to defy the bullying of this racist regime,” the foreign minister stated.
Zarif touched on Iran’s proposal on holding a referendum among all Palestinians in the occupied territories, describing it as the only path to peace in Palestine.
"It must not be forgotten that Palestine is not only an Arab or Islamic issue, but also an international dilemma,” he said. "The crimes committed against the innocent Palestinian people over decades weigh heavy on the conscience of humanity.”
Zarif urged the international community to condemn the Zionist regime in the strongest terms and force it to end the destruction and siege of Gaza, calling on the OIC member states to press the UN to urgently convene an emergency session of the General Assembly to address the issue.
He suggested that countries devise an "institutionalized” legal and political campaign against this "apartheid Zionist regime” at regional and international levels, and establish a professional international watchdog to monitor and report crimes committed against Palestinians in order to bring the culprits to justice.
"We should also pass domestic legislation and a resolution by this organization recognizing that Israel is an apartheid regime,” Zarif said, adding that Israel’s criminal acts should be recognized as genocide and crimes against humanity by both domestic legislation and OIC resolutions.
The Iranian minister also said the OIC member states should extend the jurisdiction of their national tribunals to include the prosecution of criminals perpetrating war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the occupied territories.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, among others, also addressed the virtual meeting. He condemned the Zionist regime’s "flagrant violations” of Palestinian rights and called on the international community to act urgently to put an end to the hostilities.
Quds Force chief General Esmail Qa’ani assured Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a telephone conversation of Iran’s full support for the Palestinian nation.
Haniyeh thanked Iran for its support, saying the fight against the occupying regime of Israel is not just the task of the Palestinian resistance but that of the entire Islamic world.
Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups have fired thousands of rockets at Zionist targets in retaliation for the occupying regime’s flare-up of violence that entered its seventh day on Sunday.
The number of people killed in Gaza since May 10 has climbed to at least 188, including 55 children and 33 women, according to the Palestinians. Some 1,230 people have also been injured. The Zionist regime has reported 10 dead.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday denounced Israel’s barbarism and massacre of the defenseless Palestinian people, urging Muslim countries and international organizations to bring an immediate halt to the Tel Aviv regime’s atrocities.
"The Palestinian issue is still the most important and most vivid common issue for the Muslim Ummah and it is a necessity to counter these crimes and put an immediate end to the brutal attacks and the killing of the oppressed and defenseless people,” Rouhani said in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He said Iran and Turkey, as two important and influential countries in the region, should improve cooperation and make collective efforts to utilize the capacity of international bodies such as the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to confront the Zionist regime’s crimes and acts of aggression.
For his part, Erdogan said the international community must work to deter the occupying regime of Israel and the Muslim world should also be united in discourse and action to that end.
The Turkish president expressed hope that participants at the OIC meeting would make a proper decision vis-à-vis Israel’s behavior.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister Muhammad Javad Zarif denounced Israel’s systematic human
rights violations and disregard for international law.
"Innocent men, women and children are being massacred by the deadliest and most sophisticated weapons. Homes are being demolished while their residents are trapped inside. Whatever remains of the infrastructure in Gaza—including power and water supply—is effectively destroyed,” he told an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that was held virtually.
Zarif said the massacre followed the purported "normalization” of ties between certain Arab countries and the occupying regime of Israel. The minister said "friendly gestures” are proven to aggravate the criminal and genocidal regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
He said the sole aim of Israel’s hypocritical gestures is to divide Muslims and isolate the people of Palestine.
"Make no mistake: Israel only understands the language of resistance and the people of Palestine are fully entitled to the right to defend themselves and to defy the bullying of this racist regime,” the foreign minister stated.
Zarif touched on Iran’s proposal on holding a referendum among all Palestinians in the occupied territories, describing it as the only path to peace in Palestine.
"It must not be forgotten that Palestine is not only an Arab or Islamic issue, but also an international dilemma,” he said. "The crimes committed against the innocent Palestinian people over decades weigh heavy on the conscience of humanity.”
Zarif urged the international community to condemn the Zionist regime in the strongest terms and force it to end the destruction and siege of Gaza, calling on the OIC member states to press the UN to urgently convene an emergency session of the General Assembly to address the issue.
He suggested that countries devise an "institutionalized” legal and political campaign against this "apartheid Zionist regime” at regional and international levels, and establish a professional international watchdog to monitor and report crimes committed against Palestinians in order to bring the culprits to justice.
"We should also pass domestic legislation and a resolution by this organization recognizing that Israel is an apartheid regime,” Zarif said, adding that Israel’s criminal acts should be recognized as genocide and crimes against humanity by both domestic legislation and OIC resolutions.
The Iranian minister also said the OIC member states should extend the jurisdiction of their national tribunals to include the prosecution of criminals perpetrating war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the occupied territories.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, among others, also addressed the virtual meeting. He condemned the Zionist regime’s "flagrant violations” of Palestinian rights and called on the international community to act urgently to put an end to the hostilities.