The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas said that the remarks made by US congresswoman Ilhan Omar are very peculiar as she equated between the victim and the executioner when she treated the resistance of the Palestinian people, the Israeli crimes in Palestine, and the US aggression in Afghanistan as an equal footing.

Member of Hamas’ International Relations Office Basem Naim said in a statement, a copy of which obtained by Safa, that "Hamas highly appreciates Omar’s stances in support of justice and the rights of the oppressed around the world, foremost among them is the just rights of the Palestinian people. However, it is unacceptable to make such an unfair comparison, which contradicts with basic norms of justice and international law."

"The Palestinian people have been living under the Israeli occupation for more than seven decades, during which they have experienced unbearable suffering and against whom heinous crimes were committed. The Palestinians have remained steadfast in their struggle for their freedom and independence, offered every possible chance to make a just peace, and made several concessions to regain their rights through peaceful means within the context of international legitimacy," Naim added.

"Fully backed and protected by successive US administrations, unfortunately, the Israeli occupation, however, refused to abide by all international resolutions and continued its aggression against the Palestinian people in stark breach of international security and stability," he continued.

Moreover, Naim reaffirmed that the Palestinian people have the right to resist the Israeli occupation with all means possible, including armed resistance, citing the anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela’s famous saying: “It is always the oppressor, not the oppressed, who dictates the form of the struggle.” The resistance to the occupation by the Palestinian people over the past years is a legitimate and guaranteed right.

"Hamas, meanwhile, has offered several initiatives to avoid civilian casualties, the first of which was offered by Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and the last was presented by Hamas chief in Gaza Yahya al-Sinwar following the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza. All of these proposals were rejected by the Israeli occupation, which deliberately targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure, the last of which was the 11-day onslaught on Gaza," he stressed.

The deliberate and brutal targeting of Palestinian civilians during this aggression was intended to inflict a heavy cost on the Gazan population in a bid to break the Palestinians’ will and their support for the Palestinian resistance, said Naim.

"On several occasions, Hamas welcomed the formation of all international investigation commissions and expressed its readiness to cooperate with them for the sake of achieving justice and holding the perpetrators accountable, but the Israeli occupation completely refused to allow them access to the Palestinian territories."

"Thus, we hope that US Rep. Ilhan Omar and all defenders of Palestinian rights make effort to provide a proper and accurate description of the situation, as this is the starting point to lay the foundations for a fair solution for this prolonged state of injustice and denial of the Palestinian people’s rights," he concluded.