Islamic Jihad hails Iran's support for Palestine in letter to Leader
In a letter to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad hailed Iran’s support for the resistance front in an 11-day fight against Israel’s aggression on the Gaza Strip.
In his Saturday letter, Ziyad al-Nakhalah said that he has the honor to congratulate the Leader on behalf of himself and the Islamic Jihad forces as well as its armed wing Al-Quds Brigades on the victory of the Palestinian people and their resistance against the Zionist enemy.
He added that Ayatollah Khamenei’s "constant, continued and open support" for Palestine in all fields has "played the most important and leading role" in “Operation Sword of Al-Quds” and its subsequent achievements, Press TV wrote.
"Despite the enemy’s [purported] military upper hand, fighters of the resistance entered the battlefield with full power, strength, bravery and courage," he said.
Nakhalah said the Palestinian people and resistance defeated the enemies and revealed the image of Israel which is "weaker than a spider web".
The Palestinian official also thanked the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for standing by the Islamic Jihad fighters for long and for sincerely providing them with any capability, know-how and assistance leading to such a big victory.
He especially commemorated the late commander of the Quds Force Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 3, 2020 in a US drone strike.
Israel launched a bloody bombing campaign on Gaza on May 10 after harassment of Palestinians in Al-Quds and attempts to steal their lands in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the city.
Israel announced a unilateral cease-fire on Friday, which was accepted by the Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza with Egyptian mediation.
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 248 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive, including 66 children and 39 women, and over 1,900 were injured.
During the fighting, Gaza-based resistance factions fired thousands of rockets into the occupied territories in response to the Israeli bloodshed.
In a message on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei said Israel was "forced to accept defeat" by resistance groups.
"The continuation of crimes and the cease-fire were both (part of Israel's) defeat. They were forced to accept defeat," the he added, noting that Israel was "powerless against the unified rise of Palestine".
The IRGC also issued a congratulatory statement on Friday, saying the great victory of the Palestinian resistance front in the face of Israel’s recent crimes and warmongering proves that the “atrocious and child-killing” regime is facing definite decline and must expect “lethal and heavy blow” from brave Palestinians.
Heartening Palestinian youths
The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, which is affiliated to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) umbrella group, joined the chorus of gratitude toward Ayatollah Khamenei.
Ayatollah Khamenei’s “support for the Palestinian resistance provided the youths of this land with the conviction and strength to confront the Zionists,” the political party’s Secretary-General Khaled Abdulmajid said on Saturday, addressing the media.
Ayatollah Khamenei and other Iranian authorities’ constant supportive stance played “an important and active role” in empowering the resistance to the extent that it managed to afflict heavy damage on the Israeli forces and settlers through its reprisal against the aggression, he added.
The Palestinian official considered the Islamic Republic’s invariable backing of the Palestinian nation in the face of the Israeli regime’s “organized state terrorism and savage crimes” throughout the Palestinian territories, to be “a source of pride”.
Gaza’s resistance movements, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, have already voiced vociferous gratitude towards the Leader for the support.
“The Palestinian nation, all the countries participating in the resistance axis, and all the freedom-seeking people of the world take pride in the great victory,” Abdulmajid added.
The Islamic Republic is the “real and main supporter” of all resistance groups throughout the world, and also serves as the main guarantor of regional stability and the Muslim world’s unity, he added.
The entire Palestinian nation, including all the resistance groups, “enter allegiance” with Ayatollah Khamenei to keep up their resistance and popular struggle against the occupiers until Palestine’s liberation.
Turning tables on Israel
Meanwhile, religious teachers at an internationally-renowned Islamic seminary in the Iranian city of Qom hailed how the Gaza Strip’s resistance movements turned the fortunes of war against Israel.
Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom that represents the educators in a statement said the movements managed to “turn the tables on the Zionist regime [of Israel]” during the warfare.
What further turned the tide against the regime was the unity that transpired within the entire borders that used to demarcate Palestine before the Israeli invasion of 1948, the statement added.
The unity bound the resistance movements, their fellow Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and others based elsewhere in the occupied territories during the Israeli aggression, they said. “Today, the brutal and infanticidal Zionist regime tastes the bitterness of defeat in the face of this unity,” the statement read.
The era of the regime’s “brazen attacks” is over, they said, adding that the ardent Palestinian youths now had the upper hand in their cause of defending the holy occupied city of Al-Quds against the regime.
The senior teachers also valued the resistance groups’ calculation, planning, and “intelligence superiority” over the regime during the struggle.
The Palestinian groups also bore witness to the futility of the dreams that are entertained by those, who have been seeking to realize the “from-Nile-to-Euphrates” project. The ambition refers to the Israeli regime and its international supporters’ dream of stretching the areas under the regime’s occupation from the former river to the latter.
Source: Iran Daily