Iraqi leaders issue messages of support for Palestine

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Government officials and political leaders in Iraq on Saturday issued statements of support for the people of Palestine following a deadly Hamas attack on Israel.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed group of the Hamas movement, claimed responsibility for more than 5,000 rockets fired at Israel in a surprise attack early Saturday morning. Israel’s health ministry said that at least 150 Israelis have been killed and about 1,100 more injured. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have retaliated with airstrikes that have killed 198 people in Gaza and injured another 1,610, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Iraqi government expressed its support for Gaza and the Palestinian people and called the rocket attack on Israel a "natural result of the systematic oppression... at the hands of the Zionist occupation authority," according to a statement from spokesperson Basem al-Awadi.

Iraq’s presidency also expressed its “full support” for Palestine in a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter). 

“We call on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities to achieve justice and guarantee the legitimate rights of the people of Palestine,” read the presidency’s statement. 

Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr instructed his followers and all “believers” to recite a prayer in support for the people of Palestine.

Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakeem, head of the al-Hikma movement, also expressed his support for Palestine, saying that the Palestinians are defending themselves. “We consider that the operations of the Palestinian resistance that are taking place are merely a response,” he said. 

On Saturday, Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif Qanu’ told Rudaw that they were in an “open war” with Israel and their morning attack was in response to Israeli aggression. "This is an open war and it cannot stop until we inflict huge damage on the right-wing government and they stop their violations on al-Aqsa in Quds [Jerusalem]," he said. 

Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in the Old City of Jerusalem is a frequent flashpoint in the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

Palestine’s official WAFA news agency reported on Saturday that President Mahmood Abbas held an emergency meeting with a number of civil and security officials. Abbas emphasized the “right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves against terrorism of settlers and the occupation army,” according to WAFA.