A senior delegation from Hamas, headed by its chief abroad Khaled Meshal, received on Friday evening secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, along with the movement's representative in Lebanon, Ihsan Ataya, in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. 

The meeting was attended by members of the Hamas politburo Mousa Abu Marzouq and Husam Badran, in addition to Hamas officials Ali Baraka and Ahmad Abdel Hadi. 

Both sides discussed the latest developments concerning the Palestinian cause and Palestinian national matters, as well as how to accomplish Palestinian unity on the basis of resisting the occupation, protecting Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, liberating Palestinian detainees, and breaking the Gaza siege. 

The meeting also addressed the Palestinian situation in Lebanon. 

Reaffirming the necessity to bolster resistance, particularly in the occupied West Bank, both delegations affirmed their commitment to resistance as the only option to confront the Israeli occupation, liberate Palestine, and restore Palestinian rights and holy sites. 

They condemned the "heinous massacre" committed by Palestinian Authority security forces in Burj Shemali camp in southern Lebanon, reiterating the necessity to preserve security and stability in Palestinian refugee camps and calling on Lebanese authorities to hunt down the culprits and punish them severely. 

Both delegations agreed on strengthening bilateral relations, boosting cooperation and coordination at home and abroad, and working on mobilising the Arab and Muslim world and the free peoples of the world towards the option of resistance. 

Al-Nakhalah offered congratulations to Meshal on the 34th anniversary of the establishment of Hamas.