Iran supplied Gaza with weapons: Hamas leader

Cairo, Nov 22 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Iran supplied Gaza militants with weapons, Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Islamist group Hamas, has said.

“The weapons of Palestinian resistance were partially manufactured inside the Gaza Strip, and the rest were supplied by certain countries, including Iran,” Meshaal told journalists in Cairo after a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hamas.

The Hamas leader said Tehran had supported Gaza militants with arms “even despite differences between Iran and Hamas on issues connected with the conflict in Syria”.

Meshaal said the Palestinians will now seek to unite their ranks and management structures in Gaza and on the West Bank.

An Egyptian−brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect at 7.00 p.m. Wednesday. Both the Israel Defence Forces and the Islamist group praised the deal, in line with which, Israel has to end hostilities and targeted killings in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas has to stop launching rockets into Israel.

The Israel defence forces said they have completed objectives for its Operation Pillar of Defense against the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave of 1.7 million that has been governed by Hamas since 2007.

The operation started Nov 14 with an airstrike that eliminated the head of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Jabari. The airstrike came after a reported surge in rocket attacks on Israeli border towns from Gaza.

About 160 Palestinians have died in Israel’s eight−day air and naval attack on Gaza. Five Israelis have been killed in the conflict.

−−IANS/RIA Novosti

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IANS 2012-11-22 14:32:18