The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, unimpressed with Mahmoud Abbas’s propaganda remark to Christian media that the current ‘knife attacks’ were the result of Palestinians’ despair, said, “This intifada is a jihad, a holy war fought by the Palestinian people against the Zionist occupation. Only a holy war will drive the occupier out of Palestine.”
By Daniel Siryoti
“This intifada is not the result of despair. This intifada is a jihad, a holy war fought by the Palestinian people against the Zionist occupation. Only a holy war will drive the occupier out of Palestine,” Haniyeh said in a rally held by supporters of the Islamist group.
Haniyeh’s statement contradicted a recent remark by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who said the recent surge in violence was the result of the Palestinians’ despair over the deadlocked peace process with Israel.
Abbas visited Bethlehem on Tuesday, where he met with the leaders of the local Christian community.
He refrained from condemning Sunday’s terrorist attack in the South Hebron Hills community of Otniel, saying only that “the Palestinian Authority opposes any harm brought to innocent civilians, regardless of religion, race, or gender. There is no justification for spilling the blood of the innocent.”
View original Israel Hayom publication at:
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=31233