Amid Israeli Offensive, Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh Meets Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, last night met Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a visit to Tehran, as reported by the IRNA News Agency. Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, confirmed the meeting but provided no further details. Hamdan said that Haniyeh visited Tehran a few days ago where he met Khamenei but did not reveal the date of the meeting. Haniyeh has been residing between Qatar and Turkey since 2019. This was Haniyeh's first official meeting with the senior leaders of Iran since war broke out between the Hamas and Israel. 

Haniyeh met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Qatar yesterday where both the leaders agreed to cooperate for achieving the goals of Hamas and the Palestinian people.

After meeting the Iranian foreign minister, Haniyeh said that a new history awaits the world after this battle. "What comes after this battle is a new history that will not be at all the same as it was before it," he was quoted saying by many media reports. On the other hand, Amirabdollahian termed Hamas's murder and kidnapping of civilians and soldiers in Israel as 'glorious'.

While Israel has claimed Iran's hand behind the Hamas terror attack, Tehran has denied any involvement while extending its support to Hamas. Meanwhile, Israel has claimed to have hit the house of Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza in its airstrike. The Israeli Air Force and the ground forces have been making significant advancements in northern Gaza since the October 7 terror attack.

At least 1400 people have lost their lives and over 3000 were injured in the Hamas terror attacks on Israel. On the other hand, more than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza following Israel's counter-offensive.