Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank as well as occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) have welcomed the Iranian retaliatory operation against the Israeli regime.

Across the occupied Palestinian territories – from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank to al-Quds (Jerusalem) many were quick to point out that Iran’s retaliation marks the first time a country and not a resistance movement has launched such a penalizing attack on Israeli military bases in modern history. 

Palestinian resistance movements, led by Hamas, have hailed the Iranian response. 

“We, in the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, consider the military operation carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Zionist entity, occupying Palestine, as a natural right and a deserved response to the targeting of the Iranian consulate in Damascus and the assassination of several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders there,” the Gaza-based resistance movement said in a statement. 

Hamas also highlighted that “the peoples of the region have the right to defend themselves against Israeli aggression,” calling on all parties, both regional and international, to support the Palestinians and their resistance against Israeli occupation. 

In a statement, the joint Palestinian Resistance group’s committee went on to praise the “necessary Iranian response” to the Israeli aggression against its consulate in Damascus, emphasizing that “it is an act of self-defense and an inherent right of the Islamic Republic guaranteed by all international laws.” 

“We are living a new reality and glorious historical moments,” which were initiated by Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the statement said. 

In the Gaza Strip itself, where the people have been under the ongoing genocidal Israeli war for more than six months cheered with joy as they witnessed firsthand the Iranian drones and missiles flying towards Israeli military targets. 

A social media clip from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the blockaded Gaza Strip shows hundreds of displaced Palestinians sheltering at the medical facility cheering on as Iranian projectiles flew overhead toward Israeli military targets. 

Palestinians in occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) held a celebratory gathering inside the compounds of the holy al-Aqsa mosque, rejoicing Iran’s response against the Israeli occupation. 

Other social media videos that have gone viral show a huge crowd of people in front of the mosque’s golden dome chanting against the Israeli occupation after news emerged that Iran had waged a massive retaliatory operation. 

It was also a sleepless night in Ramallah and other cities in the occupied West Bank, that saw excited crowds of Palestinians gathering in the streets and pointing to the skies amid the visible trails of Iranian missiles flying, with a celebratory mood until the early hours of Sunday morning. 

The social media accounts of well-known Palestinian activists in the occupied West Bank shared videos of Iranian drones and missiles reaching Israeli military targets. 

They also praised the response by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, with some pointing out that no regional country has ever responded to Israeli crimes, let alone at such an unprecedented magnitude. 

The IRGC targeted the Israeli regime late on Saturday with a barrage of drones and missiles in response to the regime’s deadly assault on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus on April 1.