Islamic Jihad chief says his Iran-backed group forming fighting units across W. Bank

Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziad Nakhaleh said in an interview released Saturday that his Iran-backed terror group was working to establish cells of fighters throughout the West Bank.

Speaking with Iranian Arabic-language newspaper Al-Vefagh, Nakhaleh said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — with whom he met two weeks ago in Tehran — was supportive of “moving from a state of calm to one of resistance” in the West Bank, while reiterating his support for arming Palestinians there.

“The most important thing is that we strengthen the resistance,” the Damascus-based Nakhaleh said. READ MORE