Quds Force cmdr. to Palestinian resistance: Despite sanctions, pressures we will never let Palestine be alone

According to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news network, Brigadier General Esmaeil Qa’ani made the remarks in separate letters on Thursday to Mohammed Deif, chief of staff and supreme commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which is the military wing of Hamas resistance movement, and Akram al-Ajouri, who heads al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

“I reiterate here that we abide by the promise made to you by [former] martyred commander [of the Quds Force] Hajj Qassem Soleimani. No matter how much pressure mounts [on Iran] and to what degree sanctions are intensified, we will never let Palestine be alone,” the Iranian commander said in his letter to Deif.

General Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, was assassinated along with his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, in a US drone strike ordered by ex-president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

“We will not stop until the usurping Zionist regime is annihilated and every inch of the land of Palestine is liberated,” the Iranian commander said.

“The Operation al-Quds Sword has clearly proven that those who were involved in the process of selling out Palestine did this on their own behalf and will soon regret what they have done,” General Qa’ani said in clear reference to normalization deals signed between a number of Arab countries’ governments and Israel during past months through agreements brokered by Trump.

On September 15, 2020, Trump hosted a White House ceremony, where Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed normalization agreements with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani.

Trump later announced on October 23 at the White House that Sudan and Israel also agreed to normalize relations.

Also on December 10, Israel and Morocco normalized relations, making the North African country the fourth Arab state to strike such deal with Israel.

The normalization deals have drawn widespread condemnation from Palestinians, who seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital. They say the deals ignore their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.

Elsewhere in his letter to Deif, General Qa’ani said that today, “the enemy is well aware that Palestine is not alone, but the resistance front is getting more extended and stronger with every passing day.”

Noting that Palestinian resistance groups have pulled off a huge epic task through their steadfastness, and proven the weakness of the enemy, the Quds Force’s commander added, “al-Quds continues to be the compass of the resistance front and the Kiblah of its jihad.”

In his letter to Ajouri, the commander of IRGC’s Quds Force lauded the unity and steadfastness of Palestinian resistance groups, which in his words “brought humiliation to the Zionist army” of Israel.

Qa’ani noted that capabilities of resistance groups are much higher than the enemy has seen so far or can even imagine, saying, “We will stand with you with our soul and spirit… We have no doubt that we will [finally] enter al-Aqsa Mosque and say prayer in it with power and dignity.”

He concluded his letter to Ajouri by saying, “I kiss the hands of all those fighters who made possible this brilliant victory.”