Palestinian Groups in Gaza Condemn Israeli Strikes on Syria
Palestinian factions in Gaza urge Arab states to prevent Israel from taking advantage of the Syrian crisis, reports Mohammed Suliman.
Islamist and leftist Palestinian parties have strongly denounced two recent Israeli air attacks in Syria. The first strike took place on May 3, reportedly targeting a shipment of missiles bound for Hezbollah near the Lebanon border. The second attack occurred on May 5 and, according to the BBC, hit an area that “houses numerous military facilities, including the Jamraya research center, designated by Syria as a scientific research center.”
Yasser Abd Rabbo, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, condemned the Israeli strikes as “unjustifiable attacks on the sovereignty of Syria” and called on all parties in Syria to reach a political solution to put an end to the fighting there.
While expressing sympathy for the civilian victims of the Syrian conflict, Hamas issued a similar statement, calling on the involved parties to stop the bloodshed. It also strongly decried the attack on Syrian territory, referring to it as part of Israel's “terror policy in the region.” The Syrian government had once been Hamas’ major ally in the region.
In Gaza, in an interview with Al-Monitor, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that the Israeli airstrikes should be seen as an extension of its belligerent policies and earlier attacks against other countries in the region, specifically, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, and Tunisia. Israel, Barhoum argued, is bent on destroying any strong Arab country to ensure that it remains the sole major and unparalleled power in the region.
