Gen. Qaani: ‘Axis of Resistance’ stays united with Gaza fighters

The head of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has assured the military wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip of the solidarity of the “Axis of Resistance” with Palestinian fighters.

“Your brothers in the axis of al-Quds and the resistance are united with you, and they will not allow the enemy to reach its dirty goals in Gaza and Palestine,” Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani said in a message Thursday.

The Axis of Resistance refers to an alliance among Iran, Syria and anti-Israeli groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere which have hit Israeli and US targets in recent weeks in solidarity with Gaza.

Gen. Qaani hailed Operation al-Aqsa Storm by Palestinian resistance fighters on Oct. 7 which caught Israel off guard and shattered the regime’s myth of superiority in everything from military to intelligence power.

“You created a great epic called the al-Aqsa Storm, which was accomplished with the help of God and by the holy fighters of the al-Qassam Brigades and the resistance in Gaza,” he said.

“Palestine and the region after the al-Aqsa Storm will not be the same as before,” Gen. Qaani stated.

“You clearly showed the weakness and fragility of the usurping Zionist regime and you showed in a practical and decisive way that the regime is weaker than a spider’s web,” he said in another part of his message.

The message came after Western media claimed that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had got a dressing-down from Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

On Thursday, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed claims to this effect as “pure lies and slander”, saying the British news agency Reuters “has published worthless lies instead of news”.

“Everyone knows the nature of the relationship between the Hamas movement and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the position of the country in supporting the Palestinian cause and nation and its resistance, and especially the Hamas movement, and they know the view of Ayatollah Khamenei in supporting the Palestinian resistance.

“Therefore, due to the necessity and nature of the relationship between the two sides, it is impossible to believe such content,” Hamdan told Iran’s official news agency IRNA.

Reuters had claimed that Haniyeh had been told that since Tehran was not given prior notice of the October 7 operation, it would offer political support to Hamas, but would not “intervene directly” in the fight.

The news agency had also claimed that Haniyeh had been asked to “silence those voices” in Hamas calling for Iran and Hezbollah to directly join the war against Israel “in full force.”

Hamdan said the publication of such biased news has two main reasons.

“First, the resistance in Gaza has been successful in putting pressure on the Zionist regime and everyone has realized the extent of the regime’s crimes and its attacks on women, children and defenseless civilians. Second, it shows the effectiveness and efficiency of the resistance in targeting the enemy and its army and war machines.”

Hamdan said, “The publication of such news is also an attempt to destroy the image of resistance and the axis of resistance, since the influence of the resistance in the region is definitely increasing, and this is causing great concern to the Israeli regime and its supporters, forcing them to use all means available to spread fake news.”

Hamdan said the only thing he wanted to say about the “positive meeting” between Haniyeh and Ayatollah Khamenei was that it had taken place “in continuation of the good and distinct relationship between Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran”.