TEHRAN— In a letter published on Thursday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei responded to a letter sent by Ziyad Nakhalah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) chief.

In the letter, the Leader praised the PIJ efforts during the recent round of wars with the Israeli regime, indicating that the usurping regime is getting weaker, while the resistance is getting stronger.

Below is the text of the letter:

“The hardworking brother, Mr. Ziyad Al-Nakhlah,

Hello,

I received your wise and graceful letter. May God reward you well and bring the final victory of the proud and oppressed Palestinian nation sooner.
The recent incident doubled the honors of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement and elevated the position of the Islamic Jihad in the glorious resistance movement of the Palestinian nation. With your brave resistance, you thwarted the deceitful policy of the usurping regime. You have proven that each part of the resistance complex alone can destroy the enemy. By linking the efforts in Gaza with the (West) Bank, and other resistance forces with their support for the jihad movement, you were able to show the integrity of the Palestinian nation's unity against the evil and deceitful enemy. All the efforts of the Palestinian groups in all the land of Palestine should be aimed to maintain this unity. The usurping enemy is getting weaker and the Palestinian resistance is getting stronger, and there is no power but God. We are still with you. Peace be upon you.”

On Friday, Israel launched three days of military attacks on the Gaza Strip, which is under siege. Air strikes on the seaside enclave resulted in the deaths of 46 individuals, including 16 children.

In response, the Islamic Jihad movement fired hundreds of rockets at the occupied lands, forcing Israelis in Tel Aviv and other southern occupied regions to seek shelter.

At 11:30 p.m. local time (20:30 GMT) on Sunday, a ceasefire between Israel and the PIJ movement in Gaza was negotiated by Egyptian mediators. However, the movement stated that it "reserves the right to respond to any Zionist aggression."