Hamas hails Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes on Israel

Hamas praised Iran on Saturday for its strong retaliation against Israel, calling it a direct response to Israeli assault, adding that no act of aggression would go unpunished.

The statement came after Iran’snretaliation, during which the heavily sanctioned nation launched at least 150 rockets, including ballistic missiles, toward Israel.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, told CNN, “We faced three salvos of ballistic missiles fired from Iran today, about 150 in total.”

“We expect that the Iranians, who have a considerable arsenal of ballistic missiles, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2,000, will continue to fire them,” he added.

“Israel is at war, not with the people of Iran … we are in a war against a regime that is intent on achieving nuclear power,” Leiter said.

The Iranian attack was welcomed by the Palestinian group Hamas, which said the strike exposed the weaknesses in Israel’s much-touted defence systems.

Hamas senior leader Izzat al-Risheq said Iran successfully targeted sites inside Israel “despite all the hype about the Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defence systems.”

He praised Iran’s powerful response and declared that Israel’s sophisticated defences had failed. “Israel will suffer from a fire it has long ignited among the peoples of the region,” al-Risheq said.

“Iran’s strong response proves that there is no arrogance without consequence, and no aggression without punishment,” he added.