Hamas, PIJ slam UK for aiding 'Israel', spying on Gaza
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The Hamas statement says that the UK should have “corrected its historically negative stance towards the Palestinian people,” and “atone for” the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
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An Israeli military helicopter releases flares near the separation wall with Gaza on Monday, December 4, 2023. (AP)
The United Kingdom has been condemned by Palestinian Resistance group Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in separate statements for carrying out surveillance flights over Gaza, which they described as military involvement in the "genocidal war."
This comes following an announcement by the UK Defense Ministry on Saturday, claiming the flights are being conducted to help locate captives in Gaza.
In Hamas' statement, it read, "Britain’s intention to carry out surveillance flights over the Gaza Strip makes it an accomplice to the Zionist occupation in its crimes, and responsible for the massacres which our Palestinian people are experiencing."
Britain confirmed that five UK citizens went missing after the Palestinian Resistance's operation on October 7, some of whom it suggests are being held captives in Gaza by the Resistance.
"Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages. Only information relating to hostage rescue will be passed to the relevant authorities responsible for hostage [captive] rescue," the ministry claimed.
Read more: UK accused of separating British children from mothers in Gaza
The Hamas statement added that the UK should have "corrected its historically negative stance towards the Palestinian people," and "atone for" the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
'Colonial and offensive'
The Balfour Declaration is commonly regarded as the precursor to the 1948 Palestinian Nakba which saw the forcible expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland.
The Hamas statement called the Declaration "the sin of the century," and called out the UK for "making another mistake" and showing the world yet again its "colonial and offensive" past.
Britain’s surveillance flights over the Gaza Strip will "put the British government at enmity with Palestinians and all freedom-loving people worldwide, who reject the Israeli aggression," it added, as it urged the UK to "rescind its decision" in direct support of the "genocidal war against Gaza."
On its part, the Islamic Jihad designated the UK's decision as "direct involvement in Israel’s aggression against Gaza."
The UK's Junior Defense Minister, James Heappey, mentioned on Monday that Britain has increased its military presence in the Middle East by deploying an additional 1,000 personnel since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Resistance's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, The Guardian reported.
