Hamas ‘salutes’ Corbyn for his support of Palestinians

Militant group Hamas has thanked Jeremy Corbyn for a message of support for Palestinians.

The group issued a statement to “salute” the Labour leader for his stance and said it had received his message with “great respect and appreciation”.

The move was in response to a message Mr Corbyn sent to a march in support of Palestinians in London on Saturday.

The Hamas statement said: “We have received with great respect and appreciation the solidarity message sent by the British Labor Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to the participants in the mass rally.”

The statement added: “We also salute Mr Jeremy Corbyn for his principled position in rejecting the so-called Trump Plan for the Middle East or the ‘Deal of the Century’ if it was based on erasing Palestinian rights, primarily the right to an independent state.

“On this occasion we emphasize that no peace plan can succeed at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people, that the Palestinians will not allow this deal to pass, and that it will be doomed to failure.

“We also call on the current British government to stop supporting the Israeli occupation state and to listen to the voice of wisdom and reason and adopt policies in support of the Palestinian legitimate rights that will lead to stability in this vitally important and highly turbulent region.”

Mr Corbyn’s statement in support of the rally said: “We cannot stand by or stay silent at the continuing denial of rights and justice to the Palestinian people.

“The Labour Party is united in condemning the ongoing human rights abuses by Israeli forces, including the shooting of hundreds of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza – most of them refugees or families of refugees – demanding their rights.”

A Labour spokesman said: “Jeremy has a long and principled record of solidarity with the Palestinian people. That is the right thing to do.”