GAZA: Palestinian group Hamas on Saturday (Mar 14) called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran’s right to defend itself against Israel and the United States.
In a rare appeal, Hamas also urged the international community to work toward ending the war that has gripped the Middle East since it began on Feb 28.
“While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries,” Hamas said in a statement – its first such public appeal to Tehran.
Hamas’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, meanwhile, has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel since it joined the Middle East war, sending Israelis in the country’s north fleeing to shelters.
Israeli strikes targeting the group have killed nearly 800 people in Lebanon since Mar 2, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Hamas, which fought a devastating two-year war with Israel in Gaza, also called on the international community to “work towards halting” the ongoing war immediately.
The group previously condemned the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war as a “heinous crime”, openly acknowledging his longstanding support for the Palestinian movement.
“He provided all forms of political, diplomatic and military support to our people, our cause, and our resistance,” the movement said soon after the killing of Khamenei.
A Hamas official told AFP that the movement has been in contact with Iranian officials regarding the Gulf attacks.
“The Israeli occupation seeks to sow discord between Iran and its Arab and Islamic neighbours,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.
“Hamas’s leadership has also reached out to officials in several countries, including Qatar, Turkey and Iraq, urging them to work towards halting the American and Zionist aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.
Despite facing superior US and Israeli firepower, Iran has retaliated with missile and drone attacks against at least 10 countries.
Qatar said it intercepted two missiles on Saturday, after blasts were heard in the capital Doha and authorities said they had evacuated some areas.