Hamas says US strikes on Iraq, Syria 'pour oil on fire'

AFP , Saturday 3 Feb 2024

Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Saturday condemned overnight US strikes in Iraq and Syria, saying Washington had poured "oil on the fire" in the Middle East.

Palestinians receive food rations at a donation point at a camp for internally displaced people in R
Palestinians receive food rations at a donation point at a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

 

The US "bears responsibility for the consequences of this brutal aggression against both Iraq and Syria, which pour oil on the fire," the group said in a statement issued in English.

"We confirm that the region will not witness stability or peace except by stopping the Zionist (Israeli) aggression and the crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing against our people in the Gaza Strip."

The United States launched air strikes against Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and Syria and promised more to come, in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan on Sunday.

The US military said it attacked a total of 85 targets at seven different sites in Syria and Iraq.

The strikes killed at least 23 fighters in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. In Iraq, they killed 16 people, including civilians, the Baghdad government said.

US and allied troops have been attacked more than 165 times in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since mid-October in a campaign waged by armed groups angered by US support for Israel in its war on Gaza.

Israel launched a blistering air, land and sea offensive in Gaza that has killed at least 27,238 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

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