Hamas praises al-Aqsa Storm as ‘legitimate’ Palestinian right to self-defense

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has lauded the recent surprise attack against Israel as a “legitimate right” of the Palestinians in response to the illegal entity’s decades-long aggression and the silence of the international community.

Hamas made the statement on the third day of Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the largest military operation against the regime in decades.

Since Saturday, the resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip have fired over 5,000 rockets at the occupied territories. Israeli media outlets report that more than 900 settlers and troops have been killed, with over 2,600 others injured as a result.

“The battle of al-Aqsa Storm is a legitimate right for our people to defend themselves, their land, and their sanctities, in light of the continued aggression of the occupation and the silence and failure of the world to put an end to its escalating terrorism, and its denial of all the rights of our people and their aspirations to liberate their land and achieve a return to it,” Hamas said.

Listing the reasons behind the large-scale operation, Hamas referred to the escalating violations by Israeli settlers against the al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Old City of al-Quds and the regime’s prevention of Muslim worship.

Hamas denounced the Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds.

The resistance movement also said one of the reasons for launching Operation al-Aqsa Storm was Israel’s escalation of violations and crimes against Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has no one to blame but itself for war with Palestinians: Lawmaker

“There is an ethnic cleansing going on. It was obvious the writing was on the wall, written in the blood of the Palestinians,” Ofer Cassif said.

Hamas pointed to “the brutal war waged by the fascist occupation regime against our people in the occupied West Bank, and the policy of segregation, racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing” in addition to “the continuation of the unjust siege on the Gaza Strip for more than 16 years, and the catastrophic effects it has had on more than two million Palestinian citizens.”

Hamas renewed its call “to all countries of the world, to assume their political and humanitarian responsibilities, to do justice to our people and support their legitimate struggle for freedom and self-determination, and to establish their independent, fully sovereign state with al-Quds as its capital, and to end the longest and most dangerous ongoing occupation in the world.”

Since early Saturday, the large-scale multi-pronged operation has featured heavy rocket barrages and surprise attacks by resistance fighters against Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied territories.

Palestinian resistance leaders have described the operation as a decisive answer to the regime’s unabated campaign of bloodshed and destruction.

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