ByNews Desk- The Cradle
Iran has previously vowed to arm the resistance in the occupied West Bank as it has armed groups in the Gaza Strip
The delegation was headed by the chief of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh. Other high ranking Hamas officials, including Saleh al-Arouri and Khalil al-Hayya, were present.
“At the gracious invitation of the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a delegation from the movement’s leadership has arrived in Tehran. The delegation is scheduled to meet with the Iranian leadership to discuss many political and field issues related to the Palestinian cause,” Hamas said in a statement released on Monday.
At the start of the visit on 19 June, Haniyeh held a meeting with the newly appointed head of Iran’s National Security Council, Ali Akbar Ahmadian.
“The strategic way to liberate Palestine is resistance, and there is a need for unity among the resistance factions. Their victory is a strategic and historical shift for the cause, and of critical importance for the nation,” Ahmadian was quoted as saying.
Ahmadian also praised the rapidly expanding resistance factions in the occupied West Bank, which represent an extension of the Gaza resistance, namely the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement.
Haniyeh, in turn, extended his thanks to Tehran for “strengthening unity and cooperation in the Islamic world and the Palestinian resistance groups.”
Earlier in the month, a PIJ delegation consisting of the group’s Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhala and several others traveled to Iran, where they met and held talks with the country’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Iran has supported the Palestinian resistance with arms and finances since the 1979 revolution and establishment of the Islamic Republic. The majority of rockets and missiles in the besieged Gaza Strip are Iranian-made.
In 2014, Khamenei stressed that arming the West Bank is a priority and the “only solution to confront” Israel.
Recently, these West Bank resistance groups have grown extensively and are quickly becoming more organized and efficient.
While unconfirmed reports have suggested that some Iranian military support has made its way into the occupied West Bank, the factions there have relied mainly on weapons stolen from Israeli army bases, as well as some which have been smuggled in through Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
Nonetheless, Iran has vowed to arm the West Bank resistance as it has armed the resistance in Gaza, despite heavy restrictions and the difficulty of border smuggling.
In 2019, Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior military adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader, said that arming the West Bank resistance “remains on the Iranian agenda under the supervision of [Khamenei].”
“This is a military and intelligence issue, and we know how to deliver weapons to the West Bank. We have already delivered weapons to other fronts,” another Iranian official was quoted as saying that year.
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