Ahmadinejad calls to congratulate Hamas leader on ‘victory’

Ismail Haniyeh, the terror group’s prime minister in Gaza, thanks Iran for its role in the conflict

By Yoel Goldman 24 November 2012, 11:08 am Edit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes peace gestures on the sidelines of the Bali Democracy Forum in Indonesia last November (photo credit: AP/Dita Alangkara)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke on the phone with Hamas’s prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh on Friday and congratulated the terror organization’s chief for what he called “a victory for the resistance,” following the declaration of a ceasefire ending Operation Pillar of Defense.

Ahmadinejad told Haniyeh that Iran stands with the Palestinian people, to which the Hamas leader replied that the victory belongs to Muslims worldwide, reported Israel Radio.

Haniyeh also thanked the Iranian president for the Islamic Republic’s political stance and role in the conflict, according to the report.

During the eight-day conflict between Israel and Hamas, Gaza-based terrorists fired some 1,500 rockets and missiles at Israeli civilians, while the IDF responded with approximately the same number of strikes on terrorist cells, rocket launching sites, smuggling tunnels and other terror infrastructure.