Missile, drone attack stirs admiration in Gaza
CAIRO (Reuters) – Iran’s attack on Israel drew applause from many Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday as rare payback for the Israeli offensive on their enclave, although some said they suspected Tehran had staged the assault more for show than to inflict real damage.
“For the first time, we saw some rockets that didn’t land in our areas. These rockets were going into the occupied Palestine,” said Abu Abdallah, referring to sovereign Israel.
“We are hopeful that if Iran or any other country enters the war a solution for Gaza might be nearer than ever. The Americans may have to resolve Gaza to end the roots of the problem,” said Abu Abdallah, 32, using a nickname rather than his full name.
Many in Gaza have felt abandoned by Middle East neighbors since October 7.
However, support has come from Iran and its regional proxies, particularly Tehran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, who are allies and patrons of Hamas.
Footage circulated from the enclave showed many residents, including those inside displacement tents, whistling and others chanting allahu akbar in joy as the skies were lit up by Iranian rockets and Israeli interceptions.
“Whoever decides to attack Israel, dares to attack Israel at a time when the whole world acts in its service, is a hero in the eyes of Palestinians regardless of whether we share their [Iran’s] ideology or not,” said Majed Abu Hamza, 52, a father of seven, from Gaza City.
“We have been slaughtered for over six months and no one dared to do anything. Now Iran, after its consulate was hit, is hitting back at Israel and this brings joy into our hearts,” Abu Hamza added.
Iran launched the attack over a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Syria on April 1 that killed top Revolutionary
Guards commanders and followed months of clashes between Israel and Iran’s regional allies, triggered by the war in Gaza.
Hamas defended Iran’s attack, saying in a statement the assault was “a natural right and a deserved response” to the strike on the Iranian consulate.
The Palestinian Popular Resistance Committee (PRC), an armed group that fights Israel alongside Hamas in Gaza, said the Iranian engagement could boost the Palestinian cause, saying that for Israel it was “the final nail in its coffin.”
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which like Hamas receives financial and military support from Iran, defended the Iranian attack and condemned countries whom it said acted as a “protective shield” for Israel.
Not everyone was supportive. Some Palestinians saw the attack as an attempt by Iran merely to preserve its dignity.
“Curtains down on the face-saving piece of theater... The Palestinian people are the only ones who pay the price with their flesh and blood,” Munir al-Gaghoub, a resident of the West Bank, wrote on his Facebook page.
Some others on social media said they believed the assault was agreed with the US to cause no harm, pointing to the hours it took for Iranian drones to get close to Israel, and saying this gave Israel plenty of time to shoot them down.
Earlier on Sunday, IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee demanded in a post on X that Palestinians avoid using the road to the north, denying rumors circulated by Palestinians the military permitted residents to return to north Gaza areas.
“For your safety, do not approach the forces operating there. The northern Gaza Strip area is still a war zone and we will not allow a return to it,” Adraee said.