Amir Abdollahian and Haniya Meet ahead of Gaza Ceasefire

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian held talks with Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniya in Doha where he has traveled as part of a regional tour for consultations amid the ‘Israeli’ invasion of Gaza.

The meeting on Thursday night came ahead of the breakthrough four-day truce in the war that started on Friday morning and an exchange of captives and prisoners will follow hours later. 

Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Palestinian prisoners held in ‘Israeli’ jails will be released on Friday, adding that a list of names has been approved, without saying how many.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani discussed the plan with Amir Abdollahian and thanked Iran for its “pivotal role and valuable efforts in helping to achieve a humanitarian cessation of the war against Gaza,” Fars news agency reported.

“We have reached a good stage,” the Qatari minister said, adding that the first priority is the ceasefire, and then “our effort is to extend the temporary ceasefire and stop the war and killing of Palestinians completely and prevent a return to war.”

Amir-Abdollahian welcomed the ceasefire, saying if the ‘Israeli’ regime continues the war, “the situation in the region will become more tense and the reactions will be more widespread.”

He said ‘Israel’ is not able to continue the war without the support of the United States.

Amir Abdollahian said what had happened against the United States in the region in the last six weeks was the reaction of the resistance groups to US support for the genocide in Palestine and had nothing to do with Iran.

US forces in Iraq and Syria have seen an uptick in attacks since ‘Israel’ launched its invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip, leaving scores of American troops injured, including over two dozen soldiers diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.

Amir Abdollahian also said Hamas is a liberation movement which has emerged from within the civil society of the Palestinian nation.

Hamas, he said, cannot be eliminated and its enemies should not think they can achieve through political means what they failed during more than a month and a half of war.