Larijani meats Mahmoud al-Zahar

Former foreign minister of Palestinian elected government and one of top Hamas leaders, Mahmoud al-Zahar met and conferred with IRI Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani here Wednesday evening. According to IRNA, the International and Ceremonial Affairs Office of the Islamic Parliament, Majles, information website reported Larijani as referring in the meeting to the incessant support and strengthening of the sacred ideals of the Palestinian nation as of the victory of the Islamic Revolution by the leaders of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. The Iranian Parliament Speaker added, “The Iranian leaders have also always strengthened the resistance front as the main solution and the only faction that is capable of defeating the antagonist policies of the racist Zionist regime, which are plotted against the oppressed Palestinian nation.” He said, “Whenever the resistance movement has been at the peak of power and supremacy the Zionist regime has received fatal blows on the face.” The Islamic Parliament Speaker referred to the last year revolutions in North African and Middle East countries, reiterating, “Presently the Zionist regime is at the deepest point of segregation, one of whose reasons is the effect of the Islamic awakening movement on the political future of the region and the world. He furthermore reiterated, “Full advantage must be taken of the created potentials due to the awakening of the Muslim nations and the popular revolutions in the region in favor of the Islamic world and aimed at belittling the real enemies of the Muslims, particularly the usurper Zionist regime.” In the meeting the former Palestinian foreign minster and top Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar, too, appreciated the Islamic Republic of Iran’s unchangeable policy of supporting the Palestinian nation and their Islamic resistance. He added, “The flaming fire of resistance would never diminish, or cool down, because in order to embrace glorious victories we have thus far dedicated a great number of martyrs.” He referred to the Islamic teachings and the prevailing evidence today, reiterating, “The victory of the Muslims, thanks to their continuous resistance and efforts against the usurper colonialists would definitely come true and there is absolutely no doubt about it.” Al-Zahar reiterated, “The regional Islamic revolutions are all in line with strengthening the Islamic objectives, the upcoming victory of the Palestinian nation, and changing the power balance in the region. In the mid 2000s Hamas started putting greater emphasis on its political characteristics and strengthened its popularity among the Palestinian nation. In 2006 Palestinian legislative elections Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, prompting the United States and many European countries to cut off all funds to the Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, insisting that the Hamas must recognize the usurper Zionist regime, renounce violence and accept all previous imposed peace pacts. After the Zionist regime’s unilateral disengagement plan in 2005 and the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, Hamas took control over all the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The Hamas rule in the Gaza strip increased the firing of Qassam rockets, mortars and Grad missiles on the Zionist townships located nearby the Gaza strip, such as Sderot and Ashkelon and led to the armament of the Hamas in the Gaza strip. Hamas has made great use of guerrilla tactics in the Gaza Strip and to a lesser degree the West Bank. Hamas has successfully adapted these techniques over the years since its inception. Hamas has used IEDs and anti-tank rockets against the Zionist militants in Gaza. The latter include standard RPG-7 warheads and home-made rockets such as the Al-Banna, Al-Batar and Al-Yasin. The Zionist military forces have a difficult, if not impossible time trying to find hidden weapons caches in Palestinian areas — this is due to the high local support base that Hamas enjoys.