DUBAI, February 9. /TASS/. The Palestinian movement Hamas secured a victory not only over Israel but also over the US by making an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza with the Jewish state, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.
"You defeated the Zionist regime and in fact, the United States, too, by preventing them from achieving any of their goals," he said at a meeting with a Hamas delegation.
"The victory of truth over lies was the result of the Palestinian people’s suffering. The people of Gaza have set an example for all those who share the ideas of Islamic resistance," the Iranian supreme leader pointed out, as cited by his press service.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages. In response, Israel launched a military operation in the Palestinian enclave to destroy Hamas military and political wings and free all hostages. At least 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations since October 2023, and another 111,000 people have suffered injuries.
On January 15, Egypt, Qatar and the US announced that they had brokered an agreement between Israel and Hamas to release the hostages held in Gaza and declare a ceasefire in the enclave. The truce took effect on January 19. During the initial 42-day phase, Hamas is expected to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.