Hamas says Iran’s attack on Israel was its ‘natural right’
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Jerusalem's Old City at dawn of April 14 after Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel.
PHOTO: AFP
GAZA - The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has been locked in a war with Israel in Gaza for more than six months, defended Iran’s attack on Israel that began on April 13.
“We in Hamas regard the military operation conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran a natural right and a deserved response to the crime of targeting the Iranian consulate in Damascus and the assassination of several leaders of the Revolutionary Guards,” said Hamas in a statement.
Tehran’s attacks late on April 13, launched after a suspected Israeli air strike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 that killed officers of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, raised the threat of a wider regional conflict.
Israel’s military spokesman, Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari, said Iran launched dozens of ground-to-ground missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted outside Israeli borders. They included more than 10 cruise missiles, he added.
The Iranian salvo amounted to more than 200 drones and missiles so far, he noted, and had caused light damage to one Israeli military facility.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’ Oct 7 attack on Israel, which saw 1,200 people killed and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. About 130 are still being held hostage in Gaza.
More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with most of the 2.3 million population displaced and facing a humanitarian crisis. REUTERS
