Responding to the recent barrage of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza and Israel’s justified retaliation, Saudi Arabian journalists and intellectuals threw their support behind Israel, accusing Hamas of acting on behalf of Iran in retaliation for tightened U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Gaza sparked many reactions from Saudis on Twitter. Noteworthy among these responses were tweets, including by prominent intellectuals and journalists, that sided with Israel and hoped for its safety and victory, while attacking Hamas and its policy, in particular its firing of rockets. It should be noted that this is not the first time Saudi intellectuals and academics have openly expressed support for Israel and criticized Hamas.

Liberal Saudi author and intellectual Dr. Turki Al-Hamad described the latest flare-up of the fighting in Gaza as a predictable and ever-repeating scenario, while blaming it on the troubles plaguing Iran and Turkey. He tweeted: “It’s a repeating loop: rockets [are fired] from Gaza into Israel, Israel bombs [Gaza], someone or other mediates, the fighting stops – and the common Palestinian folks pay the price.

Sunni vs Shia? The religion of peace will never be at peace with themselves or us. All this bullshit we are being fed about them being like us is just that.