Palestinian factions condemn Israeli ‘aggression’ on Syria, Lebanon

The condemnations came in response to Saturday night’s Israeli air strike on Syria to avert a planned drone attack by Iranian-backed forces.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Attack in Syria on August 25, 2019. (photo credit: ARAB MEDIA)
Attack in Syria on August 25, 2019.
(photo credit: ARAB MEDIA)
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups on Sunday condemned the Israeli “aggression” on Syria and Lebanon.
The condemnations came in response to Saturday night’s Israeli air strike on Syria to avert a planned drone attack by Iranian-backed forces. In Lebanon, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group claimed that two exploding drones crashed near its press office in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Hamas condemned the “blatant Israeli aggression” on Syria and Lebanon and accused Israel of violating the sovereignty of the two Arab countries.
Hamas called on Arabs and Muslims to “unite their ranks to face this systematic crime, which reflects the expansionist ambitions” of Israel. It also repeated its call on Arab and Islamic states to halt all forms of normalization “with the Zionist enemy.”
Hamas’s relations with Syria have been strained since the beginning of the civil war there in 2011. The crisis erupted after Hamas refused to openly support the regime of President Bashar Assad in its conflict with the Syrian opposition groups. In response, Syria closed Hamas offices and expelled several leaders of the movement.
Islamic Jihad condemned the “brutal Zionist aggression” and said that Syria has the right to defend its territory.
The group warned that the Israeli “aggression will lead to increased tensions” in the region and claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was seeking “to achieve political and electoral gains at the expense of the security and stability of the region.”
The PLO’s Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) warned that Israel and the US were trying to drag the region toward a new war.
Condemning the Israeli “aggression,” the DFLP said that the failure of the international community to assume its responsibilities and impose sanctions on Israel was encouraging it to pursue its attacks on Arabs and Muslims.
“The Israeli and American policies are ones of aggression, destruction, killings and disregard for human values,” the DFLP said in a statement.
Another PLO group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said that “any Israeli aggression on any Arab and Muslim is an aggression on the entire nation and a blatant violation of international laws and resolutions.” The PFLP said that the Israeli attacks could not have taken place were it not for the US administration’s “absolute" backing for Israel and the state of schism in the Arab world.


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