Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas slammed Iran's supreme leader for hailing the October 7 attacks a success while the war in Gaza has only led to the sacrifice of "Palestinian blood".
He dismissed Ali Khamenei's recent statements claiming the attacks were a "huge blow" to Iran's archenemy, Israel, claiming the war will not "lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state" and will "not serve the Palestinian national goals of liberating Jerusalem".
Khamenei's comments "clearly announce that their [Iran's] goal is to sacrifice the blood of Palestinians and thousands of children, women and the elderly, and to destroy Palestinian land", said Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority which controls the West Bank, Iran long funding, training and arming Hamas.
The remarks by Khamenei were made at the 35th anniversary at the 35th anniversary ceremony of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death, claiming that "the Zionist regime [Israel] is melting before the eyes of the world."
However, following the October 7 attacks when 1,200 people were murdered by Iran-backed Hamas in Israel and 250 more taken hostage, over 36,000 Palestinians have died in the longest and most bloody Gaza war since Hamas took control of the strip in 2007, according to Hamas figures.
Around half the population are now displaced and it will take years to rebuild Gaza which is now suffering food shortages as looting of humanitarian aid from both gangs and Hamas in the strip are rife and several key border crossings remain closed.
