Slain Iranian general Soleimani armed Gaza terror groups to fight Israel

Comments from a senior PFLP official implied that Iran had a heavy hand in shaping violent Palestinian attacks and campaigns against Israel.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A senior official from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) praised late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani for his efforts in smuggling weapons to terror groups in the Gaza Strip during an interview with Tasnim News.

The Iranian news agency, which is owned by the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization, hosted the head of the PFLP’s military wing, Khaled Jibril, who repeatedly referred to Soleimani as a martyr. Soleimani was assassinated in a drone strike ordered by then-U.S. president Donald Trump in January 2020.

Jibril had enthusiastic praise for Soleimani, whom he credited with “creating a balance of [military power] between the Palestinians and the Zionist enemy,” meaning Israel.

“This great martyr chose a process in his life that transformed him from a simple builder to an international commander who was able to completely change the geography of the region,” the Jerusalem Post quoted Jibril as saying of Soleimani in the Arabic language video.

Jibril insinuated during the interview that Gaza terror groups’ rocket stockpiles were bolstered by Iran, crediting the Islamic Republic with providing much of the weaponry used during the May 2021 Israel – Gaza clash.

“We were in the rocket arsenals of the Palestinian resistance. We all know that the martyr Qassem Soleimani played a pivotal role in bringing the Palestinian resistance to a state of self-sufficiency at this level of missile arsenal,” he said.

“Hajj Qassem [Soleimani] made a great effort to support the Palestinian resistance groups. We and you know that the Gaza Strip is a narrow geographical area that has been surrounded by the Zionist regime from land, sea and air, but despite this, the last battle….witnessed a qualitative and significant change.”

Jibril appeared to be referencing the rocket barrages on Tel Aviv, which were previously unseen in earlier conflicts.

Notably, much of Jibril’s comments implied that Iran had a heavy hand in shaping violent Palestinian attacks and campaigns against Israel.

“What martyr Qassem Soleimani did is over, and we are now in another generation that we must continue his path,” the Jerusalem Post translated Jibril as saying.

“Soleimani completed all the strategic projects he had built,” he said, which included “the ‘Strategic project’ of 2000 [the Second Intifada] and 2006 defeat of the Zionist regime in Lebanon [the 2006 Israel – Lebanon war].”