Israel is "a microbe of corruption" and Islamic resistance will "send it to the bottom of hell", Iran's President said yesterday at a conference attended by top Palestinian militant leaders, Iranian media reported.
"With God's grace and thanks to the Palestinian resistance the occupying Zionist regime has lost its raison d'être," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a Tehran conference in support of the Palestinians.
"Their presence (Israel's) even in one inch of the region's soil causes threat, crisis and war," the state-run television's website quoted him as saying.
"The only way to confront them (Israelis) is through the Palestinian youths' resistance, and that of the regional nations," he told the two-day conference that closed yesterday.
"This microbe of corruption is no longer feasible for its masters to keep. The European and American people are opposed to Zionism and want an end to the Zionist thoughts," the Isna news agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying.
The hardline President called for unity among Palestinian groups to triumph over Israel.
"Unity and readiness of the Palestinian resistance groups are the only ways to control this evil demon and send it to the bottom of hell," Isna quoted him as saying.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah and the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, Ahmed Jibril, all of whom live in exile, were at the conference, Iranian media said.
"The Palestinian people will not be defeated by Israel, and through intifada (Palestinian uprising) and resistance will defeat Israel," said Mr Meshaal, whose group controls the Gaza Strip since June 2007.
"Israelis who are the thieves of Palestinian lands will be defeated through resistance," he told the conference.
Islamic Jihad leader Shallah called for "jihad (holy war) and resistance".