Hamas Delegation Arrives in Tehran for Meeting With Iranian Officials
Palestinian police officers loyal to Hamas march during a graduation ceremony in Gaza City, April 29, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa.
i24 News – A Hamas delegation arrived in Tehran on Wednesday morning ahead of planned meetings with Iranian officials, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
The delegation is led by Khalil al-Hayya and will meet on Thursday with Iranian officials to discuss the “latest status of the Palestinian nation’s resistance” with the “Permanent Secretariat of the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada affiliated to Iran’s Parliament.”
The Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osamah Hamdan, and its representative in Iran, Khalid Qaddoumi, will also participate alongside the delegation.
Hamas called last week for “mobilization” at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, praising protesters.
The militant group that controls the Gaza Strip said they “repelled the incursions of the occupation and its settlers with courage and pride, assuring everyone far and wide that Al-Aqsa has men who protect it and defend its purity, despite the ugliness of aggression and terrorism of the occupiers.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has accused Hamas of sending hundreds of rioters to the Temple Mount and spreading “fake news” to “create an outbreak of violence.”
Clashes at the Temple Mount raise fears of a new escalation of violence, a year after an 11-day war between the Jewish state and Hamas.
The UN and the US called for a “de-escalation” after rockets were fired last week from the Gaza Strip.