Hamas considers Iran’s response to Israel ‘natural right’

ISTANBUL

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Sunday said the Iranian military response to Israel a “natural right” for Tehran after Tel Aviv targeted its mission in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in early April.

In a statement, the group said that it considered “the military operation carried out by Iran against the occupying Zionist entity (Israel) a natural right and a deserved response to the crime of targeting the Iranian consulate in Damascus and assassinating a number of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders there.”

Hamas stressed "the natural right of countries and peoples of the region to defend themselves against Zionist attacks."

The movement called on "the Arab and Islamic nations, and the resistance forces in the region to continue their support for the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, and for the right of our Palestinian people to freedom, independence, and the establishment of their Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."

Iran began an airborne attack Saturday against Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the Syrian capital. The strike killed at least seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.

Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and vowed to respond. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack but it has for months carried out several strikes against Iranian targets across Syria.

Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have said the attack will not go unpunished.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi