Hamas condemned U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, backed Tehran’s right to respond, and urged it to avoid targeting neighbouring countries.

Hamas has strongly condemned U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, calling them a violation of international law that threatens regional and global stability.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Palestinian group said it was following “with deep concern the ongoing war in the region” and reiterated its “strong condemnation of the American-Zionist aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

The movement said the attacks violate international law and international humanitarian law and “threaten peace and security in the region and the world”.

Hamas affirmed Iran’s “right to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws”, but urged Tehran not to target neighbouring countries.

“[We] call upon the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries and urge all states of the region to cooperate in stopping this aggression and to preserve the bonds of brotherhood among themselves,” the statement said.

While stressing that the interests of the “Islamic Ummah and the region lie in stopping this war”, Hamas also called on states and international organisations to work towards halting the conflict immediately.

The group said it appreciated efforts by several countries to prevent the war and to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy.

Hamas also held the U.S. administration and the Israeli government responsible for the escalation and urged Arab, Islamic and international actors to take urgent action to end the conflict.

The statement came after Qatar’s armed forces intercepted a missile shortly after the Public Safety Alert sounded at 5:48am on Saturday, just hours after residents across the country received a National Emergency Alert at around 1:30am warning that the security threat level had been elevated and urging people to remain indoors.

Following the explosion and the alert, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior clarified early Saturday that the temporary precautionary evacuation measures taken after midnight applied only to residents in specified areas who had received notifications through the National Warning System.

Explosions have continued to be heard for a fourteenth day in Iran, Israel and across several Middle Eastern states after the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on 28 February.

Since then, at least 1,444 people have been killed and 18,551 injured in U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, according to Iran’s Health Ministry. The victims range in age from eight months to 88 years old.

Among those killed were 200 women. The ministry also reported that 168 children were killed at an elementary school in Minab. It added that 55 healthcare workers were wounded and 11 killed, including four physicians, two nurses and three emergency workers.

Tehran has responded by launching waves of missiles and drones at Israel and at several military bases in the Middle East where U.S. forces operate.

So far, Iran has launched strikes across nine countries in the region, including Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. An Iranian drone also reportedly struck a runway at a UK military base in Cyprus.

Hamas, which fought a devastating two-year war with Israel in Gaza, also called on the international community to work towards halting the ongoing war immediately.

The group previously condemned the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war, describing it as a “heinous crime” and acknowledging his longstanding support for the Palestinian movement.

“He provided all forms of political, diplomatic and military support to our people, our cause, and our resistance,” the movement said at the time.