Islamic Jihad: Syria attack meant to support zionist occupation regime

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement has strongly censured the recent joint airstrikes against Syria by the United States, Britain and France, criticizing some regional countries for opening up their airspace for the act of aggression.

The Gaza-based movement, in a statement released on Saturday, described the US as the root cause of all evils in the world, stressing that Washington was seeking to perpetuate chaos in the Middle East and undermine unity and coherence in the region.

The Islamic Jihad further noted that the recent missile attack on Syria was meant to provide more support to the Israeli regime and give it the green light to go ahead with its brutal terrorist policies against the Palestinian nation and other nations of the region.

The statement also reaffirmed the resistance movement’s solidarity with the Syrian government and nation, stressing that the Islamic Jihad stood by all Arab and Muslim nations in countering threats to their security, stability and unity.

The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement also condemned US-led strikes in Syria as “a blatant aggression [meant] to preserve the existence of the Zionist regime” of Israel.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement slammed the aerial attacks on Syria as “a flagrant violation of the country’s sovereignty.”

“The war that America is waging against Syria, against the people of the region and resistance and liberation movements, will not realize its goals,” it said in a statement.

Hezbollah also lauded Syria’s air defense for confronting the missile attack launched earlier in the day.

Additionally, Lebanon’s Amal Movement, which is a political party associated with the country’s Shia Muslim community, has condemned the joint Western attack on Syria, and describing it as a “flagrant violation of international law, and a blatant attack on the Syrian state – the founding member of the United Nations.”

“The tripartite aggression maximizes the likelihood for the region to turn into a war zone. This could have serious consequences on international peace and security.

“The Amal Movement and all honorable people cannot dissociate themselves from the airstrikes on Syria, mainly because such an aggression affects the Middle East and surprisingly comes at the time when large areas of Syria’s soil have been liberated from the scourge of terrorism,” the Lebanese political party highlighted in a statement.

The airstrikes on Syria come as “Lebanon and Iraq are trying to restore their legislative entitlements, and Palestinians are pressing on their right to return and establish an independent state with al-Quds as its capital,” the statement added.

Early on Saturday, the US, Britain and France carried out a string of airstrikes against Syria over an alleged chemical weapons attack last week against the city of Douma, located about 10 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus. Washington and its allies blamed Damascus for the Douma attack, an allegation rejected by the Syrian government.

Pentagon said in a statement that at least 58 missiles had struck Shayrat airbase in the western Syrian city of Homs. An unnamed US official said Tomahawk missiles were used in the strikes.

The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force said four Tornado GR4s fighters jets joined in the operation, while France said it had deployed Mirage and Rafale fighter jets.

Russian General Staff spokesman General Sergei Rudskoy, however, said Syrian air defense systems had intercepted at least 71 cruise missiles fired during the US-led aggression.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Saturday, Rudskoy said at least 103 cruise missiles, including Tomahawks, had been fired into a number of targets in Syria.

“Russia has fully restored the air defense system of Syria, and it continues to improve it over the last six months,” he said.