Palestinian nation, Resistance to decide future of Gaza

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comments in an interview with Al Jazeera on Friday where he visited for the third time since the Israeli regime aggression on Gaza started on October 7 to meet with high-ranking Qatari officials and Hamas movement's leadership.

"We received messages from the US declaring that they do not want to broaden the war," the top Iranian diplomat said. 

"Our response to the Americans is that they are broadening the war by supporting Israel and further arming it," he added.

The Iranian foreign minister went on to note that "The United States wrongly thinks it can decide about who will run Gaza without the return of the Palestinians."

He further said that Israel could not continue the Gaza battle had it not been for Washington's support.

Amir-Abdollahian also expressed hope that this temporary ceasefire will be the beginning of the cessation of the crimes committed by the Zionist regime.

While in Doha, the capital of Qatar, Amir-Abdollahian met with the head of the political bureau of Hamas during which Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday ahead of a landmark four-day truce that will see the exchange of captives and the delivery of relief aid to the Gaza Strip after Israel’s brutal onslaught on the besieged territory, Press TV reported.

Haniyeh appreciated the Islamic Republic for its strong support for the Palestinian people and resistance during the recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, commending the latest ceasefire as a “political and military” victory for the resistance front.

Haniyeh expressed his appreciation for the “firm support of the Iranian leadership, the president, the government and the people of Iran,” as well as the “active diplomatic support of the Iranian minister of foreign affairs for the Palestinian issue and its people, especially during the ongoing Israeli war against Gaza.”

The Hamas chief hailed as “honorable” the support of the resistance movements in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria to their brothers and sisters in Gaza, noting that it bears a “clear” message to the Zionist regime and the United States.

Pointing to various dimensions of the Israeli regime’s war crimes against the people in Gaza, its hospitals and urban infrastructure, Haniyeh said the United States was the “main axis” of the Israeli war on Gaza.

“Despite the initial opposition to the ceasefire, the United States, understanding the realities of the battlefield, was finally forced to surrender to the will of the Palestinian people and the will of the world nations and the positive vote of 120 countries to the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly for a ceasefire with Hamas, which shows the US dominance over the international order has diminished.”

The head of the political bureau of Hamas thanked the Islamic Republic of Iran for its special efforts and support in the realization of the temporary ceasefire, saying, “This is a political victory that was achieved based on the victory of the resistance in the field and the enemy failed in achieving its goals except for the killing of women and children and citizens and destroying their houses.”

Amir-Abdollahian, for his part, expressed his felicitations on the resistance, resilience and victory of the Palestinian people and the residents of Gaza during the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

“The consequences of Operation al-Aqsa Storm shook the world,” the top Iranian diplomat said. “Although the human losses of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip were high, bitter and unfortunate, the dimensions of victory and achievement of the Palestinian nation were much bigger and tipped the strategic balance in different dimensions in favor of Palestine and the detriment of the usurping Zionist regime.”

Despite more than a month and a half of aggression and brutal war and killing and injuring tens of thousands Palestinian citizens, the US and the Israeli regime failed to achieve the least in the military field and were forced to negotiate indirectly with Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of their prisoners,” Amir-Abdollahian stressed. 

Praising the honorable and courageous resistance of the people in Gaza and its resistance groups against Israel’s 47-day brutal aggression, Amir-Abdollahian underlined the Islamic Republic’s absolute determination to continue supporting the Palestinian people and resistance in the political and international fields.

The Israeli regime launched the war on Gaza on October 7 following the large-scale operation by the territory's resistance groups, which killed some 1,200 Israeli settlers and military forces and led to the captivity of hundreds more.

Israel has killed more than 14,800 people, including over 6,150 children, in Gaza since October 7.

The Qatari-mediated truce took effect at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday. As part of the agreement, 13 Israeli captives in Gaza are due to be freed at 4:00 p.m. (1400 GMT), followed by a number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Under the terms of the agreement, for every Israeli captive released, there will be three Palestinian prisoners released, namely women and children. Two hundred aid trucks that include medical supplies for the entire Gaza Strip will also be allowed in during the four-day truce.