The Daily Star
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised “resistance” in the occupied West Bank in a speech to tens of thousands Sunday after recent deadly attacks against Israelis. He made the comments at a rally in Gaza City for the 31st anniversary of the movement’s founding.
“We place our hopes in the West Bank, which is the main area where events are occurring and the most appropriate area to resolve the conflict with our Zionist enemy,” he told the crowd, which waived Hamas flags. “The West Bank has shaken and stood up with glory, strength and skill, as if it wanted to say to our people on the occasion of this glorious anniversary that it was with the resistance, in total harmony.”
Members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, participated in the rally in camouflage and carrying rifles, while presenting a range of weapons.
Hamas runs the Gaza Strip but also has a presence in the West Bank, where its rivals from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah are based. Hamas has claimed two recent deadly shootings in the West Bank, which has seen an upsurge in violence over the past week.
They included a Dec. 9 attack near a settlement that wounded seven people. An Oct. 7 shooting in the West Bank that killed two Israelis was also claimed by Hamas. In another attack Thursday, two soldiers were shot dead at a central West Bank bus station near a settlement.
Haniyeh said such attacks are “a response” to the anticipated American peace proposal that Palestinians believe will favor Israel.
He also called on Abbas to meet in Gaza or Cairo to end a decade of inter-Palestinian division.
The two Palestinians behind the attacks claimed by Hamas were shot dead by Israeli forces during arrest raids last week, Israeli officials said.
Israel’s security forces have also carried out raids in Ramallah, and say they have also arrested at least 37 Hamas operatives in connection with recent violence.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had issued a warning to Hamas after the recent attacks.
He referred to a controversial Gaza cease-fire in November that ended the worst escalation between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war.
“I conveyed a clear message to Hamas – we won’t accept a situation of a truce in Gaza and terror in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said, using the biblical name for the West Bank, as is Israel’s policy.
“We will exact a high price over them,” he said of the attacks.
Sunday, hundreds of settlers protested outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem to call on the government to increase security measures as well as settlement construction.
Participating in the protest were a number of ministers, including Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked of the far-right Jewish Home.
A ministerial committee headed by Shaked later gave initial approval to a bill that would help legalize settlement homes built on state land without government approval.