Iran on Friday invited Hamas Prime Minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh to the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran scheduled for next week.
It was unclear whether Haniyeh had accepted Tehran’s invitation. Should he participate, Haniyeh would join UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the leaders of 118 other non-aligned states for the 16th triennial event from August 29-31.
Ban’s acceptance on Wednesday earned the criticism of the United States and Israel. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reiterated after Ban’s announcement the US’s “concerns that Iran is going to manipulate this opportunity and the attendees, to try to deflect attention from its own failings.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 12 urged Ban in a phone call not to attend – and, in a rare diplomatic breach, made the plea public.
“Even if it is not your intention, your visit will grant legitimacy to a regime that is the greatest threat to world peace and security,” Netanyahu told Ban in the phone call, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
The US, EU, Canada, Israel and other designate Hamas as a terrorist organization. It came to power in Gaza in 2007 via the violent overthrow of the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
