Palestinian Militia Leaders In Tehran As Tensions Run High In Israel

The leaders of two Iran-backed Palestinian militant groups fighting against Israel are in Tehran, while tensions are simmering in the West Bank. 

Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), has been in Iran along with several other senior members and leaders of Palestinian militant groups since last week, culminating in the arrival of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Monday.

The groups, both designated terrorist outfits by the European Union, the US, the UK, Canada, Israel, and several other countries, have been receiving financial support from the Islamic Republic, presumably for wreaking havoc in Israel, or what the regime calls “resistance.” 

Nakhalah, who has met with several senior Iranian officials since last week, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, expressed gratitude for the Islamic Republic’s support during his Sunday meeting with President Ebrahim Raisi, without elaborating on the amount of support. 

According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in April, Iran is the “driving force” of a recent multi-front escalation with Israelis through its proxies across the region, funding Hamas – that rules the Gaza Strip -- with $100 million annually with additional funding worth tens of millions of dollars going to the second largest terror group in the Palestinian enclave, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Galant said the regime also provides Hezbollah in Lebanon with $700 million a year, as well as “knowledge and strategic weaponry” such as precision-guided munitions.

The groups regularly send leaders or delegations to Iran to ask for more money than their annual allowance, and usually the tensions heighten around the time of such trips either as complaisance to the Islamic Republic or a gimmick to justify further funding. 

Alireza Nourizadeh, a regional analyst, told Iran International that the regime is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to create chaos in Israel, as it views it as its most important enemy. He claimed that the regime is using the social divide in Israel as an opportunity to increase tensions, noting that the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have created such an opportunity. 

Earlier in the day, five Palestinians were killed as heavy clashes broke out between gunmen and Israeli troops in the city of Jenin. An Israeli helicopter gunship carried out strikes in order for seven wounded Israeli soldiers to be evacuated from the battle zone after their vehicle was hit by an explosive device. 

Claiming that Palestinians have never been closer to defeating Israel, Iran’s president said during the meeting with Nakhalah that "With Jihad and resistance, we will approach victory against the occupying Zionist regime day by day." 

Raisi reiterated the Islamic Republic's support for “the oppressed Palestinian nation and their just cause," which he said, "remains the cause of all Muslims."

Jaber Rajabi, political analyst and activist, told Iran International that although the Islamic Republic seeks to portray itself as sympathetic to the Palestinians and championing their cause, it never supports Palestinians who seek peace and stability, such as the Palestine Liberation Organization, and only supports warmongers. 

Rajabi said that the Islamic Republic is not committed to what he describes as the Palestinian cause, noting that the regime views the Palestinian issue as a bargaining chip. Among the few cards that Iran's regime can play in the international arena is by fomenting unrest in Israel, he claimed, adding that the regime believes it can only progress if there is a crisis. And since the détente with Saudi Arabia, Iran has to reduce the level of tensions in the Persian Gulf, so it has to create chaos in Israel. 

According to him, the Islamic Republic is against the two-state solution, the only strategy that can reconcile the opposing sides in Israel, and therefore it would not support the Palestinian groups that favor this option, which is also backed by most of the Palestinian civilians.

He added that since Khamenei announced that the West Bank should be armed, the regime is making the best use of tensions there, most notably via the Islamic Jihad group. He is also of the opinion that the reason Nakhalah and Haniyeh are both in Iran is that the regime wants to resolve the differences between the two group so they can unite against Israel, considering the fact that in recent tensions with Israel, Hamas did not engage and the Islamic Jihad was the only group firing missiles towards Israeli cities.