Iranian leader meets Hamas leader, agree on cooperation to "fully achieve goals of Palestinian people"

BEIRUT: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday night in Qatar and agreed to cooperate for "fully achieving" the goals of Hamas and the Palestinian people the Jerusalem Post reported.

This comes amid the war between Hamas and Israel continued in the Gaza Strip. This was Haniyeh's first official meeting with Iranian officials since Hamas's assault on southern Israel.

During the meeting, the two agreed to "continue cooperation to fully achieve the goals of Hamas and the Palestinian people," The Jerusalem Post reported citing a press release by Hamas.

Haniyeh stated that "what comes after this battle is a new history that will not be at all the same as it was before it." Amirabdollahian also called Hamas's murder and kidnapping of civilians and soldiers in southern Israel as "glorious", as per The Jerusalem Post.

Notably, Israel has continuously alleged that there is an "Iranian hand" in the attack. Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon said on Thursday that Iran was involved in the barbaric attack and claimed that Iran supported Hamas in terms of force building and training.

"For us, it is very clear that Iran is involved. We are not sure about the planning, but sure about equipping them for a very long time with building the force and also training them," he said.

Earlier, Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei claimed that Israel's "Zionist regime" has "suffered an irrevocable defeat both in terms of military and intelligence," Iranian News Agency Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

The Iranian leader however said that Tehran was not involved in the Saturday attack by Hamas on Israel. In a major escalation on October 7, Hamas launched a "surprise attack" on Israel, firing a barrage of rockets into the southern and central parts of the country.

According to the latest updates, at least 1300 people have lost their lives and over 3000 have been injured in the Hamas terror attacks on Israel. The IDF has confirmed that over 120 civilians are being held captive in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organization.