Shafaq News / Ziad al-Nakhala, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, held separate meetings with Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani during his visit to Baghdad to participate in the World Jerusalem Day commemoration ceremony, according to a statement released by the movement on Friday.

The statement said that the delegation, led by Al-Nakhala, provided "a comprehensive explanation of the reality of the Palestinian issue and its developments, especially the aggressive Zionist practices against the Palestinians in Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian territories in general."

The statement also pointed out that Al-Nakhala discussed with both officials "Israel's practices in expanding settlements and its assaults on cities and villages in the West Bank."

"The strong, independent, and unified Iraq, with all its components, is a force for Palestine and its resistance," Al-Nakhala said, according to the statement.

For his part, President Rashid welcomed the delegation's visit and condemned "the killing and violations carried out by Israel against the Palestinians."

He emphasized that "the issue of Jerusalem is not only a Palestinian issue," stressing the "necessity of the unity of the Palestinian people in their continuous struggle."

He also affirmed Iraq's support for the Palestinians in all international forums to achieve their rights, freedom, and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

In a separate meeting, Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Sudani stated that "Iraq and its political and social forces have not abandoned the central Palestinian issue," confirming "its keenness to support resistance in all its forms and on all fronts, against the arrogance of the Zionist aggression in Jerusalem and all of Palestine."

He added that "Iraq has cut off the path of Arab and international attempts to pass normalization projects with the occupation entity, as the Iraqi parliament has enacted a law criminalizing normalization."