Resistance front should make normalization with Israel costlier: Iranian official

Qalibaf made the remark during a meeting with Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’ politburo, in Tehran on Thursday.

“The Islamic Ummah, resistance groups, and the Islamic world should make the normalization of ties with the Zionist regime costlier, and the unity of Palestinian groups is certainly very effective in achieving victory,” he said.

Qalibaf said jihad and resistance were “our first priority” for Palestine, and that international law and political and cultural efforts came next.

Al-Hayya, who is in Iran ahead of the International Quds Day, said Israel was attempting to force Muslims from the al-Aqsa Mosque and put Israeli settlers in the area instead, “but their plot has blown up in their face.”

“Given the coinciding of Muslim and Jewish religious festivals, the Zionist regime is after imposing a new status…, but with help from the people, the defenders of holy shrines, and resistance groups, we have made efforts to keep al-Quds and the al-Aqsa Mosque the symbols and axes of resistance,” the Hamas official said.

The late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, designated the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as the International Quds Day in 1979.