TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged Muslim countries to support the Palestinian people in the face of Israeli aggression. 

In a phone conversation with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Thursday, the Iranian president underlined the need for unity and cooperation among Islamic countries in defending the Palestinian people. 

“It is necessary for Islamic countries to cooperate with each other to defend the Palestinian people and the freedom of the country and confront the Zionist regime's aggression and hostile and racist actions, which we have witnessed in recent days during the holy month of Ramadan,” Rouhani said, according to a statement issued by the Iranian presidency.

Calling Palestine as a part of the Islamic world, Rouhani added, “The attacks and aggressions of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people and Gaza must be stopped immediately and we must not allow these oppressed people to be oppressed anymore.”

Stating that the synergy of Islamic countries with Palestine is a key goal, the president said, “The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should play a more active role in the recent developments in Palestine, because the organization was created primarily for addressing the Palestinian crisis and Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, also congratulated Eid al-Fitr to the government and people of Iran, and appreciated the Islamic Republic of Iran's position on the recent developments and conflicts in Palestine and said, “In condemning and pursuing the quick cessation of the attacks on Palestinians, Qatar has the same views as Iran and calls for the effective role of the OIC in this regard.”

Palestinians all across Palestine, including inside the lands occupied in 1948, have been under brutal attacks from Israel’s security forces and army as well as extremist Jews. Over the past few days, as the Israeli army showered residential areas in the Gaza Strip with rockets and missiles, a mob of Israeli far-right extremists staged anti-Palestinian marches in which they chanted racist slogans such as “death to Arabs.” The Israeli extremists also attacked Palestinians living in the lands occupied in 1948. In one case, these extremists attacked a man near Tel Aviv they believed to be an Arab.

Footage of the incident was aired on television Wednesday night. The shocking images show a man being forcibly removed from his car and beaten by a crowd of dozens until he lost consciousness, AFP reported, adding that the attack, broadcast by public broadcaster Kan, took place on the seafront promenade of Bat Yam, south of Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv.

“The victim of the lynching is seriously injured but stable,” Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital said in a statement, without revealing his identity.

Iran condemned Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian and praised their resistance against the armed-to-the-teeth Israeli regime.

“The heroic response of resistance groups against the Zionist regime showed that the claims of invincibility of the Iron Dome were false lies,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said during a meeting with the Damascus-based leader of the resistance front, according to Press TV.
He lauded the bravery of the Palestinian nation in the face of the recent spike in Israel’s acts of aggression, saying the recent atrocities show that “normalization with the Zionist regime is against the Palestinian people and against the Muslim world.”

He pledged Iran’s unwavering support for the Palestinian nation. 
“We stand with the Palestinian people and we are proud to pay the price for this stand, as Syria pays for standing by the resistance of the Palestinian people,” Zarif noted.

During his stay in Damascus, the chief Iranian diplomat also spoke by phone with Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Beirut.
In the Wednesday phone call, Zarif underlined Iran's continued support for the people and resistance of Palestine, according to an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement. 

He described the Palestinian people's patience and resistance as a source of pride, and expressed Iran's preparedness to support the Palestinian people and resistance.

Al-Nakhaleh, in turn, appreciated the constant support of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Following the Israeli escalation of violence against the Palestinians, Zarif did massive diplomatic efforts to deter Israeli aggression. He spoke with Palestinian leaders as well as some of his counterparts in the region.
 
Last week on Monday night, Zarif spoke with Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, who briefed the Iranian foreign minister on the latest situation in the occupied territories and the usurping Zionist regime's attacks against Palestinians as well as the Palestinian people who are resisting with all their power.

During the phone call, Haniyeh also asked Foreign Minister Zarif for Iran's support for the Palestinian people's resistance.

The Iranian foreign minister, in turn, reaffirmed Iran's solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine, and condemned the usurping and brutish Zionist regime's measures against the fasting people of Palestine as well as its attack against Al-Aqsa Mosque and martyring and wounding defenseless worshippers.

Zarif reiterated Iran's all-out support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause.

He also briefed Haniyeh on his consultations with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on supporting the Palestinian people's resistance at the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

A few hours earlier, Zarif had spoken with his Turkish counterpart about the latest status of the Holy Quds and the developments in the occupied territories.

In this phone call, the two foreign ministers also agreed that, should the UN Security Council fail to make an effective decision against the usurping Zionist regime's aggression in its today's meeting, Iran and Turkey would pursue the issue within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly and the extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Zarif and Cavusoglu also stressed the need for close consultations between Tehran and Ankara in this regard.

On Tuesday, a group of more than 200 Iranian lawmakers called on Palestinians to continue their resistance against Israel, saying that resistance is the only way to confront the Israeli regime. 

“Resistance is the only way to confront the criminal regime of Israel and the resistance groups will defend the Palestinian cause with maximum preparedness and power until the full liberation of historic Palestine from the River to the Sea,” the lawmakers said in a statement, according to Press TV. 

The statement said that the Israeli regime is grappling with an “internal political impasse and a fragile security situation” thanks to the awakening of the Muslim nations, the patience and resistance of the Palestinian people, and the preparedness of the resistance forces. It added, “The continuation of crimes by the Zionist enemy will certainly mean the continuation of the resistance’s fight against this regime throughout the occupied Palestinian territory.”

It emphasized that the resistance front, led by the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), will liberate Palestine from the claws of the evil Israeli regime.

The statement drew attention to the Israeli regime’s attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque, its human rights violations in the occupied territories, and the massacre in the Gaza Strip in the last days of the holy month of Ramadan and on the International Quds Day, saying the Tel Aviv regime’s acts of aggression are another stain of shame in the record of the so-called advocates of human rights and international organizations, particularly the United Nations.

It slammed the silence and inaction on the part of the UN and its Security Council on the Israeli regime’s crimes against the Palestinian people.

“Europe, as a so-called advocate of human rights, has turned a blind eye to this blatant crime. The United States is also an accomplice in the crimes that are taking place in the occupied territories,” it added.