Amid a spike in violence on the Gaza border, Palestinian terror groups in Gaza warned on Monday that the enclave was on the verge of an “explosion.”
“The rebellion of the youth is a harbinger of an explosion,” officials from Hamas and Islamic Jihad told the Palestinian news agency Safa. “We won’t tolerate the crimes of the occupation against our nation any longer.”
The comments are the most explicit expression yet of the growing concern among Gaza’s leaders that a recent series of violent incidents involving young lone-wolf Palestinian attackers at the Israel-Gaza border would lead to another war with Israel.
In their joint statement Monday, the groups said they’ve “warned the Zionists against continuing with their crimes, but the enemy’s leaders are still playing with fire. With God’s help, the boiling in Gaza will explode in the faces of the leaders and soldiers of the enemy.”
The statement added: “We see the Israeli occupation as responsible for the crimes targeting the young people who rose up and protested the continued blockade on the strip and the recurring attacks in the holy city [Jerusalem] and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The comments come just hours after a senior Hamas official made similar remarks to the London-based Palestinian newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed. The unnamed official justified the attacks, saying, “Palestinians are disappointed by the difficult conditions caused by the Israeli occupation… Dozens of promises to improve conditions have not been kept. This frustration has become the legacy of 2 million Palestinians.”
But he said the surge of attacks by independent actors in recent weeks has sparked concern among Hamas leaders that their actions and Israeli reactions might push everyone towards a new large-scale confrontation.
The official underscored that cross-border violence over the weekend was perpetrated by rogue elements, but insisted that Hamas remained in full control of the Palestinian territory.
The warnings come a day after Hamas officials blamed “rebellious youth” for the recent upsurge in violence in and around the Palestinian territory. On Friday and Saturday, rockets from Gaza were fired at Israeli communities, and early Sunday morning, the army shot dead three armed Gazans attempting to sneak across the border.
Hamas spokesman Abdelatif al-Qanou said Israel had “killed and injured four rebellious youths, which is a reflection of its brutal behavior against our people and proof of the ugliness of its crimes.”
In a similarly worded statement, Islamic Jihad, the second largest terror group in Gaza, said Israel had targeted a group of “angry youths” and that it holds the Jewish state fully responsible for “its ugly crimes at our people’s expense.”
The comments are the most explicit expression yet of the growing concern among Gaza’s leaders that a recent series of violent incidents involving young lone-wolf Palestinian attackers at the Israel-Gaza border would lead to another war with Israel.
In their joint statement Monday, the groups said they’ve “warned the Zionists against continuing with their crimes, but the enemy’s leaders are still playing with fire. With God’s help, the boiling in Gaza will explode in the faces of the leaders and soldiers of the enemy.”
The statement added: “We see the Israeli occupation as responsible for the crimes targeting the young people who rose up and protested the continued blockade on the strip and the recurring attacks in the holy city [Jerusalem] and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The comments come just hours after a senior Hamas official made similar remarks to the London-based Palestinian newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed. The unnamed official justified the attacks, saying, “Palestinians are disappointed by the difficult conditions caused by the Israeli occupation… Dozens of promises to improve conditions have not been kept. This frustration has become the legacy of 2 million Palestinians.”
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