Iranian Intervention in Arab Affairs
Following the Oslo Accords and the return of Yasser Arafat and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to Palestinian soil, they believed that the agreement granted them the right of return to their homeland to exercise authority. Some criticized the agreement, claiming that Yasser Arafat had said, “I fell into the Israeli trap.” Mahmoud Abbas denied this, stating that Arafat viewed the organization as having achieved a significant accomplishment, and that it was enough for us to be proud that we had become closer to the Palestinian people and were on Palestinian land.
The Mullahs’ government found its ally in the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Hamas organization, which had criticized the agreement and continued to demand the liberation of all of Palestine, from the river to the sea. Consequently, the Tehran regime solidified its ties with Hamas, trained its leadership, and began providing them with money and weapons. Hamas leaders repeatedly visited Tehran, participating in the city’s celebrations of Jerusalem Day, where they listened to fiery speeches denouncing America as the “Great Satan” for protecting the Zionist enemy, supplying it with arms and funds, and blocking any UN Security Council resolutions condemning its aggression.
After Yasser Arafat’s death, elections were held in occupied Palestine, and Hamas won a majority. A government was formed under the leadership of the late Ismail Haniyeh. Hamas soon engineered a crisis with the Fatah organization, expelling Fatah elements from Gaza by force and monopolizing control of the Strip. This development stunned Arab states, which had been striving to resolve the Palestinian issue and secure a UN Security Council resolution endorsing a two-state solution.
Then, Hamas committed another mistake, in my view, by carrying out what became known as the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, led by the late Yahya Sinwar. This resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 Israelis, according to the Israeli narrative, and the hostage-taking of several individuals. Hamas’s objective in holding Israeli hostages was to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails. The Tehran regime quickly declared that it had no connection with Hamas’s actions, anticipating accusations before they were even made, but as the saying goes, “The suspicious one often confesses.”
That operation provided the extremist Israeli government with justification to invade the Gaza Strip, killing tens of thousands of its residents, the majority of whom were innocent children and women. Homes, schools, and hospitals were demolished with people still inside. The international community condemned this horrific crime, and Israel was accused of committing genocide. The International Criminal Court indicted Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Defense Minister for war crimes against civilians, calling for their arrest and appearance before the court. The majority of UN member states called for a two-state solution on Palestinian land: a state for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as it existed prior to the 1967 war, alongside the State of Israel, with mutual recognition. However, the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States has diverted global attention away from resolving the Palestinian issue. We urge influential Arab states to reinvigorate efforts toward a solution.
