The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Saturday condemned the American night strikes in Syria and Iraq, saying that the United States was “adding fuel to the fire” in the Middle East and was “fully responsible” for the possible repercussions.
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The United States “bears responsibility for the consequences of this brutal aggression against Iraq and Syria, which adds fuel to the fire,” Hamas said in a statement in English.
“We confirm that the region will not find stability and peace until the Zionist (Israeli) aggression, crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing against our people in the Gaza Strip cease.”
AFP
The United States carried out strikes targeting elite Iranian forces and pro-Iranian groups in Iraq and Syria, in retaliation for a Jan. 28 drone attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members.
This attack was attributed by Washington to groups supported by Iran.
At least 23 pro-Iranian fighters were killed by strikes on eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). In Iraq, 16 people, including civilians, were killed, the Iraqi government announced.
Since mid-October, more than 165 drone strikes and rocket attacks have targeted American forces deployed with the anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria.
Mostly claimed by a nebula of fighters from pro-Iranian groups who call themselves “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, these attacks increased after the start of the war in Gaza on October 7 between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Israel. , a close ally of the United States.
Classified as “terrorist” by Washington, these factions claim to be part of what Iran calls the “axis of resistance”, alongside the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels of Yemen and Hamas.