To discuss the diplomatic normalisation between Israel and Arab countries, the leaders of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a political and paramilitary party and the Palestinian’s militant organisation Hamas movement met on Sunday in Lebnon, international media reported.
According to a news report by Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV, the leaders from both parties stressed the “stability” of the “axis of resistance” against Israel. However, the exact location of the place ad time of the meeting was not mentioned in the report.
During the meeting, Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, was pictured with Ismail Haniyeh, who heads the political bureau of Hamas, the de facto ruling party in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The report said leaders discussed “political and military developments in Palestine, Lebanon and the region” and “the dangers to the Palestinian cause”, including “Arab plans for normalisation” with Israel.
The discussion between the leaders followed announcement made on August 13 that Israel and the United Arab Emirates had agreed to normalise ties.
As the diplomatic drive backed by US drive aims to boost a regional alliance against Iran, Palestinians have condemned it as a “stab in the back” as they remain under Israeli occupation with no end in sight.
Following the deal with United Arab Emirates, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his country was now in talks with other Arab and Muslim leaders about normalising relations. pertinently, UAE is the only third Arab country to have diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv, decades after Egypt and Jordan.
The Hamas leader arrived Lebnon days back and had a direct and video-conference talks with other Palestinian groups that oppose Israel’s diplomatic initiative. It has been the leader’s first visit to the country in nearly 30 years.
On Sunday, as reported by Lebanese media, Haniyeh was greeted by a large crowd in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.
There, Haniyeh is reported to have addressed the crowd and said, “Not long ago, our rockets only reached (targets) metres from Gaza’s borders. Today, the resistance in Gaza possesses rockets that can reach Tel Aviv and beyond Tel Aviv”.
Talking about the normalization between Israel and Arab countries, Haniyeh said that “does not represent the people, neither their conscience, nor their history nor their heritage”.
In past few weeks, according to reports, Israel’s military has targeted Hamas in the Gaza Strip and what it claims to have been Hezbollah gunmen along its northern border with Lebanon.
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