国际英语新闻:Palestinian factions reject planned Western strike against Syria

RAMALLAH, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian political factions, including Fatah and Hamas, on Wednesday voiced their rejection of any possible Western military strike against Syria.

The two rival Palestinian factions agree that Western attacks against sites and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad only serve Israel.

"Despite atrocities committed against the Syrian people (by al- Assad's troops), Hamas renews its rejection of any external meddling in the Arab world's affairs," said Mushier Al-Massri, an official from Hamas, the Islamic movement which controls the Gaza Strip.

"The unjustifiable war that the West wages in the Middle East benefit Israel," he told Xinhua.

The Syrian uprising against al-Assad, now in its third year, forced Hamas to evacuate its longtime base in Damascus to avoid pressure from Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to take sides with al-Assad.

In 2012, Hamas cut its relationship with Syria, and involuntarily found its ties with Iran and Hezbollah deteriorating, when its Prime Minister Ismail Haneya publicly supported the Syrian people in their upheaval against al-Assad.

Last week, pro-Assad forces allegedly used chemical weapons to attack some villages near Damascus, killing 1,300 civilians. As a result, the West is banging the drum of war which the White House says aims to punish al-Assad.

Meanwhile, Jamal Muhissen, an official from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, called on the Arab League headquartered in Cairo not to provide cover to Washington and its allies for a military action against Syria.

He added that Israel occupies the Golan Heights, and any strike against Syria "will destroy its military power so that Damascus won't be able to restore the Golan."

Muhissen said that Fatah doesn't intervene in the internal politics of Arab countries, but it rejects "anything that could affect the Arab national security."