Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on October 13, 2023 (MEHR)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad believes that the Israeli entity and its allies are working to downplay the recent accomplishments of the Palestinian people.

During a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Damascus on Friday evening, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expressed his apprehension regarding the extent of the Israeli entity's atrocities against Gazans.

He emphasized that the Israelis and their supporters aim to undermine the recent achievements of the Palestinian people or exploit them to suppress the Resistance. Furthermore, he stated that this strategy is being orchestrated under the guidance and control of the United States and Western nations.

President al-Assad cited the rationale for Western support of the Zionist entity as stemming from the significant political, economic, and social crises facing that entity, coupled with concerns about its potential collapse.

He voiced his endorsement of Iran's proposal for a political initiative, which involves convening an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers from Islamic countries. This initiative aims to prevent the Israeli regime's continued brutal actions against Gazans.

On his account, Amir-Abdollahian conveyed that he viewed the Israeli aggression in Gaza, which involves the ruthless killing of Gaza residents, including children, women, and the elderly, as well as the blockade leading to shortages in essential supplies like water, electricity, and fuel, alongside the bombing of Gaza's residential areas, public facilities, and medical establishments, as constituting war crimes.

While certain international and Western figures attribute the initiation of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm by the Palestinian Resistance to Netanyahu's radical policies and provocative deeds, they emphasize the need for the Palestinian side to display the highest level of restraint, as per Amir-Abdollahian.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir-Abdollahian emphasized that while Iran and Syria's support for Palestine is unequivocal, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was entirely a Palestinian initiative, orchestrated and executed by Palestinians per se

Amir-Abdollahian highlighted that Western powers are attempting to manipulate the narrative in Gaza to validate the Israeli entity's atrocities. He reiterated the resilience of the Palestinian Resistance, asserting its capacity to endure in the face of the Zionist regime for an extended period.

Moreover, he pointed out the contradiction in the United States urging restraint while concurrently providing military support to the Zionist regime, which is employed against Palestinian civilians.

Addressing the dire situation in Gaza caused by the Israeli war machine, Amir-Abdollahian stressed the collective efforts required to halt the ongoing atrocities. To this end, Iran has proposed the idea of organizing an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers from Islamic countries and has officially expressed its readiness to host such an event.

Meanwhile, over 2,215 Palestinians, including 724 children, were martyred, and 8,714 people were injured since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, as per the Palestinian Health Ministry's latest toll.

The Ministry further detailed that in the past 24 hours, Israeli occupation forces killed 324 citizens, including 126 children and 88 women, and wounded 1,018 others, with a large number of martyrs being unrecognizable and others remaining unidentified, as per Al Mayadeen's correspondent, as their bodies are dismembered or completely scorched.