Iran-backed groups defiant ahead of annual pro-Palestinian commemoration

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Leaders from the Iran-backed "axis of resistance" against Israel struck a defiant tone on Wednesday ahead of an annual Tehran-sponsored pro-Palestinian commemoration later this week, Hizbollah's Al Manar television reported.

Quds [Jerusalem]Day commemorations, when Iran and its allies organise marches in support of the Palestinians, were launched in 1979 by Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

They are traditionally held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year is expected to finish at the end of March.

Palestinian militant group Hamas's Khalil Al Hayya said in a statement broadcast on Al-Manar that Israel had been "unable to break the will of our people and our resistance", despite more than a year "of killing, terrorism and destruction, and despite the full assistance and support of the United States".

The ongoing Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's subsequent military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 50,183 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Israel restarted intense air strikes across the Gaza Strip last week followed by ground operations, shattering the relative calm created by a January ceasefire.

The leader of Yemen's Huthi rebels, Abdul Malik Al Huthi, said his group would continue to support the Palestinian people "without retreat", Al-Manar reported.

The Huthi insurgents have launched missiles towards Israel and have attacked ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.

Hizbollah chief Naim Qassem said that "we will not accept the continued [Israeli] occupation", referring to the ongoing presence of Israeli troops in south Lebanon after a recent war.

The Lebanese group initiated cross-border fire with the Israeli military in support of Hamas on October 8, 2023.

Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah dramatically spiralled into all-out conflict last September, and the group remains a target of Israeli air strikes despite a November 27 ceasefire.

"The prisoners must be released," Qassem said, referring to those captured by Israel during the war, adding: "There is no room for normalisation or surrender in Lebanon."

The conflict severely weakened Hizbollah, which saw a slew of senior commanders killed, including its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Iranian commander Esmail Qaani said that "the Islamic republic has always stood and continues to stand alongside the Palestinian people in defence of the holy Al Quds [Jerusalem]", in his speech, also aired by Iranian state television.

"God willing, this steadfastness will continue until the final victory of liberation and the reaching to Al Quds," he added.