“Supporting the Palestinian nation is a humanitarian and Islamic duty,” Ahmadinejad told Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya by telephone.
He said, “Palestinians’ resistance is a source of proud for all Muslims and freedom-seekers around the world.”
Referring to the Gaza blockade by the Zionist regime, Haniya said, “The siege, plots, and aggressions are aimed at getting concessions from Palestinians. They want us to recognize Israel and put down the flag of resistance.”
He asserted that Palestinians will never surrender to the Zionist regime. “Although we are facing so many problems…we are still on the road of resistance.”
In a separate conversation with Haniya, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said Iran absolutely supports the Palestinian nation in their resistance against the Zionist regime.
“I assure you that the Iranian nation and the Islamic system will support the Palestinian resistance by all means and will always stand by you,” Iran’s top lawmaker noted.
He lauded the perseverance of Palestinians against the Zionists’ aggression, saying, the Palestinian issue will be resolved through pursuing Islamic objectives and resistance.
Haniya briefed Larijani on the latest developments in Gaza and the occupied territories
Larijani said the Zionist regime’s decision to intensify the Gaza blockade is due to its weakness.
He said the Zionist regime is involved in numerous internal problems and has extended a needy hand to other countries. The plan of stepping up pressure on Palestinians will fail just like Annapolis plan, the Majlis speaker predicted.
Haniya criticized the Arab League for pursuing the interest of the Zionist regime rather than Palestine.
The 130th ordinary session of the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers kicked off in Cairo on Monday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials attended the meeting, which called for gaining a real and serious Palestinian unity before end of the year. Hamas was not invited to the meeting.
“Excluding the legal government (of Hamas) which harvested a majority in the elections and inviting the illegal government of Ramallah doesn’t create a positive atmosphere to achieve success in the dialogue,” said Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza.
A Yemeni initiative adopted by the Arab League Summit has called on Hamas to end its control of Gaza and hand all security headquarters it controlled to the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas rejected Abbas decree and kept ruling the Gaza Strip, saying that Abbas has no right to depose the government, which its members were legally elected by a Palestinian majority.
Abu Zuhri, however, said that his movement is still adhered to the Palestinian dialogue as an important way out of the current crisis, adding that his movement is ready to deal with the Arab efforts in this respect.
“But any Arab interference into the internal Palestinian situation should be balanced and should be based on respecting the outcome of the last general elections and the Palestinian law,” said Abu Zuhri.
Reuters quoted the head of the Arab League that he was angry with fractious Palestinian political groups and that sanctions against them were being discussed by Arab governments.
“I am extremely angry with the Palestinian organizations,” Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the league, told a news conference in an unusually harsh criticism of the Palestinians.
“We are studying the measures to be taken in the face of the current Palestinian chaos,” he said, after the meeting of Arab foreign ministers.
The two main Palestinian groups, Fatah and Hamas, disagree on their approach to talks with Israel.
Moussa gave no details of the sanctions the Arab states envisaged against the Palestinian groups. “They (the sanctions) are now all in the framework of closed consultations within the Arab system,” he added, referring to the Arab League.
Egyptian authorities on Wednesday blocked an opposition convoy headed for the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip to protest the territory's punishing blockade, a security official told AFP.
The group of judges, independent MPs, members of the main opposition Muslim Brotherhood and activists from other parties wants to protest the continued closure of the Rafah crossing by Israel and Egypt.
Another security official said police had stopped an initial part of the convoy of about 50 people in Ismailiya, on the Suez Canal, with a second part of the convoy set to leave Cairo in the afternoon.
Police have set up further checkpoints on the road between Ismailiya and the town of El-Arish in northern Sinai, about 30 miles (45 kilometers) from Rafah, the security official said, asking not to be named.
“The authorities have reinforced security measures on ferries crossing the Suez Canal into the Sinai peninsula,” he added.
The Rafah crossing in southern Gaza is the territory's only one that is not under the control of Israel, which sealed off the coastal strip after Hamas seized power there in June 2007.
“We want the Israeli blockade that is making our Palestinian brothers live in inhuman conditions to be lifted," said Muslim Brother MP and convoy spokesman Hamdi Hassan before leaving Cairo.
“We also want to denounce the Egyptian government which is keeping the Rafah crossing closed in agreement with Israel, which makes life even more difficult for the Palestinians.
“The Egyptian government is destroying the tunnels which were the only means the Gaza Strip had to receive aid,” he said.
While Israel allows limited amounts of aid through its crossings with the Gaza Strip, Egypt has been clamping down on the tunnels that take many staples from its territory into Gaza.
Earlier this month, Egypt opened Rafah briefly to allow thousands in and out of the besieged territory, including Palestinians requiring treatment in Egyptian hospitals, and Palestinians holding Egyptian passports
Egypt has refused to open the Rafah crossing permanently.
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