Hamas chief, Iranian president discuss developments in Israel’s war on Gaza

By Yaqoota Al Ahmad

ISTANBUL (AA) – Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke by phone Sunday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on developments in Israel's ongoing offensive on the embattled Gaza Strip.

Hamas said in a statement on its Telegram channel that Haniyeh called President Pezeshkian “to discuss political and field developments related to the genocidal war being waged by the (Israeli) occupation on Gaza and overall developments related to the Palestinian cause.”

Haniyeh said “the massacres of civilians (in a displaced people’s camp) near Khan Younis and (near the ruins of a mosque at) the Shati refugee camp (in Gaza City) on Saturday came despite the positive stance of Hamas and the resistance factions towards cease-fire talks.”

He said, however, that “Netanyahu imposed new conditions that were not mentioned in the texts of the mutual proposals through mediators, confirming his desire to continue and escalate the aggression.”

Haniyeh expressed his appreciation for “the Islamic Republic's positions on Palestine and the resistance and its support for our cause at various levels,” according to the statement.

Pezeshkian expressed "his strongest condemnation for the brutal attack launched by the occupation on the displaced gathering in the Al-Mawasi area.”

He emphasized that Iran “will not leave the Palestinian people alone in these difficult circumstances and his government will prioritize the Palestinian issue as the central issue for the Islamic world.”

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 38,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 88,900 injured, according to local health authorities.

More than nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala