TEHRAN - Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, has sent a letter to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, informing him of the atrocities the Israeli regime is committing in Palestine.

Haniyeh described the brutal crimes of the Zionist occupiers against Al-Quds, the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Gaza and the 1948 occupied territories, according to the Palestinian Information Center.

In the letter, Haniyeh stated that due to the escalation of the aggression and crimes of the occupying regime against the Palestinian people and sanctities, “we established extensive contacts with various parties and asked them to prevent the advancement of the enemy's crimes and sinister goals and warned that these crimes will certainly not go unanswered by the Palestinian people and Resistance.”

He stated that the insistence of the criminal leaders of the Zionist regime on continuing their aggression against the nation, the land and the sanctities of Palestine, required a decisive and legitimate response by the Resistance in the Gaza Strip.

Haniyeh noted that today the criminal enemy, with the deadliest internationally banned weapons, commits the most barbaric crimes against the people of Gaza around the clock, as well as the most heinous crimes against the demonstrators in al-Quds (Jerusalem), the West Bank and the 1948 occupied territories.

Haniyeh pointed out that in the face of these incessant crimes, “we call for immediate action and mobilization of Islamic, Arab and international positions in order to take decisive positions and force the Zionist enemy to stop its crimes against the besieged people of Gaza, to stop any aggression against the residents of Jerusalem and its sanctities, and to put an end to any aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian worshipers inside it.”

This was the second letter sent by the chief of Hamas Political Bureau to the Leader in about ten days. 

Haniyeh also spoke by phone with the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the start of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. He 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.

The OIC held a virtual emergency meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday. During the meeting, Zarif said, “We witness the most heinous crimes being perpetrated against our brothers and sisters by Zionist forces in occupied Palestine.”

Zarif noted, “Innocent men, women and children are being massacred by the deadliest and most sophisticated weapons. Homes are being demolished while their residents are trapped inside. Whatever remains of the infrastructure in Gaza—including power and water supply—is effectively destroyed. We are facing blatant and systematic violations of human rights, humanitarian law and international law.”

He added, “The massacre of Palestinian children today follows the purported ‘normalization.’ This criminal and genocidal regime has once again proven that friendly gestures only aggravate its atrocities. The sole aim of Israel’s hypocritical gestures is to divide Muslims and isolate the people of Palestine. Make no mistake: Israel only understands the language of resistance and the people of Palestine are fully entitled to the right to defend themselves and to defy the bullying of this racist regime. These barbaric acts have proven once again that the only peaceful path to peace in Palestine is the holding of a referendum among all residents of Palestine, including displaced Palestinians and refugees.”

The chief Iranian diplomat also said that the Palestinian question is not only an Arab or Islamic issue, but also an international dilemma. He said the international community has a duty to stop the Israeli atrocities. 

“It must not be forgotten that Palestine is not only an Arab or Islamic issue, but also an international dilemma. The crimes committed against the innocent Palestinian people over decades weigh heavy on the conscience of humanity. The international community, therefore, has a duty to condemn the Israeli regime in the strongest terms and compel it to end the destruction and siege of Gaza,” the foreign minister pointed out.