Iran’s president on Friday delivered an unprecedented speech to an annual pro-Palestinian rally in the Gaza Strip — a display of Iran’s importance to the Hamas group that rules the territory.
In a virtual address to hundreds of supporters of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group gathered at a soccer field, Ebrahim Raisi urged Palestinians to press on with their struggle against Israel, The Associated Press said.
“The initiative to self-determination is today in the hands of the Palestinian fighters,” Raisi said, dismissing Hamas' domestic political rival, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority administers autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Raisi's speech was seen as part of efforts to mend a rift between Hamas and its long-time patron, Iran, over the devastating civil war in Syria.
Raisi addressed the crowd on the occasion of “Jerusalem Day,” or al-Quds Day after the city’s Arabic name, which falls on the final Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Jerusalem is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site of Islam.
The compound has repeatedly been a flashpoint in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Last week, Israeli police forcefully removed Palestinian worshippers who had barricaded themselves in the mosque with stones and firecrackers, demanding the right to pray there overnight.
After the raid, in which hundreds of Palestinians were detained and dozens hurt, rockets were fired from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria toward Israel.
The Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, praised the rocket fire during Friday's rally. “The response came like a simple electric shock,” Sinwar said.
For the past four decades, al-Quds Day parades have drawn thousands to the streets around the Middle East. The event is most dramatic in Iran, where crowds burn Israeli flags and chant pledges to liberate Jerusalem. Israel captured Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it as its capital. Palestinians seek the eastern part of the city as a future capital.
Hamas has a wing that has long nurtured close ties with Iran, a source of funding and a Shiite powerhouse. Hamas and Iran are brought together by a shared enmity toward Israel.
While Iran has not revealed the details of its support, Hamas has publicly praised it for its assistance.
