Palestinians watch a pre-recorded speech by Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi on “Jerusalem Day”, called Al-Quds Day after the city’s Arabic name, at a football field in Gaza City, Friday, April 14. , 2023. Photo Credit: AP
On April 14 Iran’s president delivered an unprecedented speech at an annual pro-Palestinian rally in the Gaza Strip – a demonstration of Iran’s importance to the Hamas terrorist group that rules the territory.
In a virtual address at a football field to hundreds of supporters of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group, Ibrahim Raisi urged Palestinians to step up their struggle against Israel.
“The initiative for self-determination today lies in the hands of Palestinian fighters,” Mr. Raisi said, dismissing Hamas’ domestic political rival, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which has long sought to achieve Palestinian statehood through negotiations with Israel. has demanded. , The Palestinian Authority administers the autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Mr Raisi’s speech was seen as part of efforts to bridge a rift between Hamas and its longtime patron Iran over Syria’s devastating civil war.
Mr Raisi addressed the crowd on the occasion of “Jerusalem Day” or Al-Quds Day after the city’s Arabic name, which falls on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Jerusalem is home Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam, The mosque sits atop a walled compound, a compound that was the site of the Biblical Jewish Temple and is revered as the holiest site in Judaism.
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The compound has repeatedly been a flashpoint in the long-running Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Last week, Israeli police forcefully removed Palestinian worshipers who had barricaded themselves in the mosque with stones and firecrackers demanding the right to pray throughout the night.
Following the raid, which detained hundreds of Palestinians and injured dozens, Palestinian militants fired rockets from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria towards Israel.
Palestinians gather for a protest against Israel after afternoon prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan Friday, April 14, 2023. Photo Credit: AP
Yehiyyah Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, praised the rocket fire during Friday’s rally. “The reaction was like a simple electric shock,” Mr Sinwar said.
For the past four decades, the Al-Quds Day parade has drawn thousands of people to the streets around the Middle East. The event is most dramatic in Iran, where crowds burn Israeli flags and vow to liberate Jerusalem. In the 1967 Middle East war, Israel captured Jerusalem and annexed it to its capital. The Palestinians seek the eastern part of the city as a future capital.
Although Hamas is a Sunni Muslim group, it has a militant wing that has long forged close ties with Iran, a source of funding and a Shiite power center. Hamas and Iran have come together because of their shared hostility towards Israel.
While Iran has not disclosed details of its support, Hamas has publicly praised the Islamic Republic for the assistance. Experts say Iran’s support is both financial and political – now mostly blueprint technology, engineering know-how and training to help the militant group develop its home-grown arsenal of advanced rockets that can strike all of Israel’s territory. Can do.
The Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas violently took control of Gaza in 2007 has made it difficult for Hamas to smuggle Iranian-made rockets into the coastal enclave in recent years.
The US State Department reports that Iran provides approximately $100 million per year to Palestinian armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The civil war in Syria strained the relationship. In 2012, Hamas closed its Damascus office and left Syria after President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on a popular uprising—on the Muslim Brotherhood, a political Islamist movement with which Hamas is affiliated.
But Hamas’ military wing is moving closer to Iran, Assad’s main backer. Recent steps towards a reconciliation between Hamas and Assad late last year have pointed to Iran’s growing influence over Gaza’s militant rulers.