Hamas Leader Visits Iran After U.N. Passes Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Tehran on Tuesday for meetings with senior Iranian officials, a day after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Israel’s campaign against the terrorist organization Haniyeh leads.

Iran’s PressTV portrayed Haniyeh’s visit as an effort to coordinate strategy with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, now that UNSC has tossed Hamas a lifeline:

“Examining the latest situation of the war in Gaza and the ongoing aggression of the Zionist regime against the people of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are among the most important agendas of the trip and the talks between the officials of the two sides,” official news agency IRNA reported.

Since the start of Israel’s military aggression and genocide against the Palestinians, the Islamic Republic has used all its diplomatic power to stop the war and send immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Political analysts believe the visit is of great importance as it takes place just one day after the ceasefire resolution was adopted.

PressTV noted that Haniyeh has little trouble visiting Iran, having previously done so in November to meet with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Like other top Hamas leaders, Haniyeh lives in safety and luxury in Qatar, not in Gaza.

Haniyeh boasted from Tehran that Israel is “losing political cover and protection, even in the Security Council,” and he was delighted that the United States could not – or would not – “impose its will on the international community” by vetoing the resolution.

“Although this resolution came late and there may be some gaps that need to be filled, the resolution itself indicates that the Israeli occupation is experiencing unprecedented political isolation,” he said.

Haniyeh added that if the UNSC can halt the Israeli operation in Gaza, the “Zionist entity” will have been prevented from “achieving any of its military or strategic objectives.”

The Hamas delegation also met on Tuesday with Khamenei, who praised the “unique resistance of the Palestinian forces” against “the crimes and brutalities of the Zionist regime, carried out with the full support of the West.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to support the cause of Palestine and the oppressed people of Gaza,” Khamenei declared.

The UNSC resolution also called on Haniyeh’s brutal organization to release all of its hostages, but neither the Hamas leader nor the Iranians seemed very concerned about that detail. A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry instead dismissed the resolution as a “positive but insufficient step” against Israel, and demanded “the complete and permanent cessation of attacks.”

Emboldened by its success at the United Nations, Hamas on Tuesday rejected the latest Biden administration proposal for a hostage deal.

The Israeli delegation responded by announcing that some of its members would depart from talks in Qatar because they had reached an “impasse.”

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas’ rejection of the latest proposal “clearly proves that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations for a deal, and is an unfortunate evidence of the damage caused by the UN Security Council’s decision.”

Hamas officials dismissed the Biden administration’s optimistic comments about negotiations in Qatar as “manipulation” and said nothing short of a “total cease-fire that will include the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza and the return of the uprooted to their homes” would be acceptable before Hamas even begins to discuss releasing its hostages.