Iran Shows Increasing Interest in Escalation on the West Bank
An advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader discusses recent developments in Palestine with the leadership of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, following accusations by Netanyahu of Tehran’s involvement in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis.
Iran is displaying growing interest in the situation in Palestine amidst the escalation in the West Bank and the attacks targeting settlers, coupled with Tel Aviv’s threats of a broad military operation against Palestinian factions. This comes after Israeli accusations against Tehran of being behind these armed attacks that led to the death and injury of several Israelis.
The Secretary-General of the “Islamic Jihad” movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, and the head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, discussed the field developments in Palestine on Tuesday with Ali Akbar Velayati, the advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader for international affairs. This occurred during separate phone calls, according to statements released by both the “Islamic Jihad” and “Hamas” movements.
The statement from “Islamic Jihad” mentioned that al-Nakhalah and the Iranian official reviewed “the latest developments in Palestine, especially the situation in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and the daily aggression committed by the enemy (referring to Israel) in Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, the West Bank cities, camps, and villages.”
The statement quoted al-Nakhalah as saying, “The Palestinian resistance will never tolerate aggression,” and that “threats issued by the occupation leaders do not intimidate the Palestinian people and its resistors.”
On his part, “Hamas” reported that Haniyeh emphasized during the call “the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their ability to confront the occupation and its aggression.”
Haniyeh praised “Iran’s consistent position in support of the Palestinian cause and people,” emphasizing that “the Palestinian people and their resistance are determined to continue the resistance and to thwart the enemy’s strategy and plans.”
Although Hamas did not claim responsibility for the recent attacks in the West Bank, it described them as heroic and a response to Israeli invasions of Palestinian camps and towns in the West Bank.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech during his visit to the site of a shooting attack in the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank that resulted in the killing of a settler and the injury of her husband, stated that his country is facing a “terrorist attack encouraged and directed by Iran.”
Netanyahu added, “We will hold the killers and their senders accountable, whether near or far.”
Israeli officials repeatedly accuse Iran and its Palestinian ally factions, especially Hamas and Islamic Jihad, of being behind the attacks targeting Israelis, amidst intelligence operations and mysterious attacks between Tehran and Tel Aviv.
The Israeli state claims that Iran arms Palestinian factions, and that there is coordination between Palestinian militants and the Revolutionary Guards.
In recent years, Israel has carried out attacks targeting nuclear scientists, nuclear sites, and Revolutionary Guards forces in Syria, although it does not claim responsibility for such operations. Meanwhile, Iran targets ships in waterways in the Gulf belonging to Israeli businessmen using drones, or it targets Israeli state citizens in Turkey, Serbia, and other countries. However, it also does not claim responsibility for these attacks.
For months, the West Bank has been witnessing a state of severe escalation due to the Israeli army’s incursions into Palestinian cities and towns, settler assaults, and their attacks on Palestinian villages and towns.
