Hamas and Iran Celebrate Israel’s Isolation at UN

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Senior Iranian officials and the leaders of Iran’s Gaza-based terror proxies met on March 26 in Tehran, where they celebrated the ceasefire resolution that the UN Security Council passed the previous day. During a press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said that the UN resolution “indicates the unprecedented political isolation experienced by the Israeli occupation.”

Haniyeh, who arrived in Tehran at the same time as Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhala, met with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Ebrahim Raisi, among other senior officials. After their meeting, Khamenei reportedly praised Haniyeh and Hamas, saying, “the propaganda and media activities of the Palestinian resistance have been very good so far, and ahead of the Zionist enemy.” Khamenei added that “more action should be taken in this field.”

Expert Analysis

“The administration’s sustained political warfare against Israel doesn’t just hurt our democratic ally; it hurts the United States by emboldening our enemies. The administration should be sending signals that Hamas’s days are numbered. Between the Security Council vote and recent sanctions relief for Iran, the White House is signaling the exact opposite.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“Hamas continues to coordinate and deepen cooperation with its most important state patron, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in plain sight. Conversely, any gap, however marginal, between Israel and America will only redound to the benefit of Tehran and its proxies. Iran’s entire post-October 7 gameplan has been to find a way to create enough regional chaos to prevent Israel from successfully defeating and defanging Hamas.” — Behnam Ben Taleblu, FDD Senior Fellow

“Hamas is carrying out suicide attacks against Israel on the battlefield and in the political arena. The terrorist group is more than happy to receive the Security Council resolution’s slap on the wrist in exchange for the added political pressure directed at Israel and the friction in the U.S.-Israel relationship.” — David May, FDD Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

Haniyeh and Khamenei Met in November

Haniyeh’s meetings marked his second visit to Tehran since the start of the Gaza war in October. Haniyeh had previously traveled from his home in Qatar to Iran in early November. During that visit, Khamenei expressed his support for Hamas but denied Iran’s direct involvement in the terrorist group’s October 7 massacre. Iran’s state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported that Khamenei “emphasized Tehran’s consistent policy of supporting the Palestinian resistance forces against the Zionist occupiers.”

UN Resolution Fails to Require Hamas to Free Hostages

On March 25, the United States abstained from a resolution that the Security Council adopted demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. In total, 14 out of 15 Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, which also demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Yet the measure neither acknowledges Hamas’s October 7 massacre nor explicitly ties a ceasefire to the release of hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the U.S. failure to veto the resolution “regrettable” and canceled an interagency Israeli delegation’s trip to Washington to discuss alternatives to a full-scale operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The White House is reportedly working with the Israelis to get the visit back on the calendar.

Israel Thwarted Iranian Attempt to Arm Palestinian Terrorists

The same day the Security Council adopted the ceasefire resolution, the Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces revealed that they had thwarted an attempt by Iranian operatives, led by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to smuggle advanced weapons from Iran into the West Bank intended for use in terrorist attacks against Israelis. Iran also arms, trains, and funds the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah — which launches rockets into Israel daily — and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who attack Israel and international shipping in the region. 

Related Analysis

“Israel Intercepts Advanced Iranian Weapons En Route to West Bank,” FDD Flash Brief

“U.S. Abstains From Ceasefire Resolution at UN Security Council,” FDD Flash Brief

“President Biden must face reality: It’s time to act vs. Iran,” by Mark Dubowitz and Richard Goldberg