Britain's decision to 'monitor' Gaza from above makes it 'accomplice' of Israel: Hamas

ISTANBUL

Hamas on Sunday condemned a decision by the UK to conduct surveillance flights over Israel and Gaza and provide intelligence to Tel Aviv, saying this amounted to military involvement in the "genocidal" war on Gaza.

Britain's "intention to carry out intelligence flights over the Gaza Strip makes it an accomplice to the Zionist occupation in its crimes, and responsible for the massacres to which our Palestinian people are subjected," the Palestinian resistance group said in a statement.

The UK should have "corrected its historical position that was offensive to the Palestinian people," and "atone for" the 1917 Balfour Declaration, a letter from then-British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lionel Walter Rothschild, a leading figure of the British Jewish community, pledging support for "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.

Calling the declaration "the sin of the century," the group said Britain was "committing another wrong and reminding the world of its shameful colonial past."

The British Defense Ministry announced the decision on Saturday, saying the surveillance flights would be part of efforts to rescue Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

It underlined that the UK government had been "working with partners across the region to secure the release of hostages, including British nationals, who have been kidnapped" since an Oct. 7 surprise attack into Israel by Hamas.

According to Hamas, Britain's surveillance flights over the Gaza Strip will "put the British government at enmity with our people and all those who reject the Zionist aggression."

It called on Britain to "rescind its direct participation and political and financial support for the genocidal war against Gaza."

The Israeli army resumed bombing the Gaza Strip early Friday after declaring an end to a week-long humanitarian pause.

At least 509 Palestinians have been killed and 1,316 injured since Friday in Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

More than 15,500 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed in Israeli attacks since then.

The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi