Ahmadinejad: Israel must 'bow' to Palestinian rights

Iranian president phones Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh, says Gaza op shows that "Zionists have reached the dead point."

By REUTERS
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (black background) 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (black background) 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the head of the Hamas government in Gaza on Saturday that eight days of cross-border fighting showed that Israel had no choice but to “bow” to Palestinian rights, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency.
Hamas has basked in what it called a victory against Israel after an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire on Thursday ended the conflict in which 163 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed. The IRNA said Hamas Prime Minister Ahmadinejad, in the rare telephone call with Ismail Haniyeh, praised the Palestinian “resistance and perseverance.”
Israel’s arch-foe Iran, which has an alliance with Hamas, had referred to Israeli strikes as “organized terrorism.”
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Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat
The exiled leader of Hamas Khaled Mashaal, on Wednesday thanked Shi’ite Iran for what he described as arms and funding.
On Friday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani described the conflict with Hamas during Operation Pillar of Defense as a “tsunami” that hit Israel, Lebanon’s The Daily Star reported.
Larijani made his comments to reporters upon arrival at Lebanon’s Rafik Hariri International Airport. “This victory by the segregated Palestinian people is a great victory and represents a tsunami on the Zionist entity,” the Iranian official said.
Larijani is due to meet with Palestinian factions in the country during his visit to Lebanon.