Hamas and Iran praise UK sanctions as ‘an important step, but not enough’
Islamic Republic state radio says that 'Ultimately, European countries, including Britain, have come to the conclusion that Israel has no future'
Hamas and Iran have welcomed the UK government’s sanctions against settlements in the West Bank.
Their reactions come two days after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced new measures targeting Israeli settlements in the ‘occupied’ West Bank, including an import ban on goods produced in ‘illegal’ settlements and a “double lock” on arms sales to Israel.
The UK government has justified the actions as a reaction to what it described as “ethnic cleansing” and “terrorism” by Israeli settlers.
Quoted by “Online Palestine”, Dr. Basem Naeem, or “Nayem”, a senior Hamas member and a former Palestinian Minister of Health in Gaza, called the move “an important step, but not enough” while Iranian regime media friendly outlets claimed that years of pressure by regime-backed “resistance groups” helped persuade the British government to act.
Islamic Republic state radio in Iran reportedly said: ‘Ultimately, European countries, including Britain, have come to the conclusion that Israel has no future and that, as our martyred leader said, Israel will not survive the next two decades” adding: “Many political observers believe this is the beginning of the end of Israel.”
Palestinian Ambassador to Britain Husam Zomlot called the decision “a turning point in the UK-Palestine relationship.”
He said Britain’s “courageous steps” could help advance Palestinian independence on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The pronouncements by Hamas and the IRGC come as eight Muslim-majority countries also praised the announcement by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and called on other countries to follow suit.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, said they “welcome the decision of the Government of the United Kingdom to ban the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”