The heads of terror groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad met Wednesday to unite in the war against Israel — as the queen of Jordan claimed the entire Middle East is “shocked and disappointed” at the “glaring double standard” at the West ignoring the plight of those in the bombed-out Gaza Strip.
Photos released by Hezbollah’s al-Manar television station and Lebanese state media showed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah sitting in a plush wingback chair as he spoke to Hamas deputy chief Saleh Al-Arouri and Palestinian Islamic Jihad head Ziad al-Nakhala, who sat on a couch.
The trio of terrorist leaders — dubbed the “axis of resistance” — spoke under portraits of Iran’s former and current Supreme Leaders, Ruhollah Khomeni and Ali Khomeni. The three terrorist groups are all funded by Khomeni’s regime.
The meeting was to set a goal for achieving “a real victory for the resistance in Gaza and Palestine” and halt Israel’s “treacherous and brutal aggression against our oppressed and steadfast people in Gaza and the West Bank,” according to a brief statement released afterward.
The major terror organizations — along with other Iran-backed militants — agreed on the next steps to be taken at this “sensitive stage,” the statement said, without elaborating on exactly what those steps were.
The meeting came as Queen Rania of Jordan said the Middle East is “shocked and disappointed” by the world’s reaction to Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
“The people all around the Middle East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world’s reaction to the catastrophe that is unfolding,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
“In the last couple of weeks, we have seen a glaring double standard in the world,” the queen claimed.
“When Oct. 7 happened, the world immediately and unequivocally stood by Israel and its right to defend itself and the attack that happened,” she said of Hamas’ surprise attack on the Jewish nation.
“But what we’re seeing in the last couple of weeks, we’re seeing silence in the world.
“This is the first time in modern history that there is such human suffering and the world is not even calling for a ceasefire,” Rania continued.
“So the silence is deafening — and to many in our region it makes the Western world complicit.
“Are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family at gunpoint, but it’s OK to shell them to death? I mean there is a glaring double standard here,” she said.
“So the silence is deafening — and to many in our region it makes the Western world complicit.
“It is just shocking to the Arab world.”
Many in the Middle East have warned in recent weeks of retaliation against Israel for its airstrikes on Gaza.
Last week, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdallahian warned that a regional network of militias dubbed the “axis of resistance” would open “multiple fronts” against Israel if it continued to kill civilians in Gaza.
“Time is running out very fast,” Amir-Abdollahian said during a live televised interview with Iranian state television Monday night, according to the New York Times.
“If the war crimes against the Palestinians are not immediately stopped, other multiple fronts will open and this is inevitable.”
Following an explosion at a Gaza hospital — which was falsely blamed on an Israeli airstrike — Amir-Abdollahian tweeted: “Time is OVER!”
Meanwhile, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders have raised concerns that millions of Palestinians could be pushed out of Gaza and the West Bank and into Egypt and Jordan, respectively.