A senior member of the terrorist organization Hamas today (Monday) unusually attacked Egypt in an interview with the Al-Jazeera network, and threatened to start a renewed escalation with Israel. According to the source, Cairo did not keep its promise to Egypt to rehabilitate the Strip and ease the siege on it, and continues to make it difficult for those leaving the Strip to pass through the Rafah crossing. In what appeared to be a planned media attack, Islamic Jihad also issued their own threat – warning of delays in lifting the siege on the Strip.
“The Egyptian behavior violates its promises to oblige Israel to fulfill all its obligations in exchange for the resistance being committed to calm. We express great dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Egyptian mediators and their withdrawal from their promises to the Gaza Strip. We will not agree to the situation. Said the source in Hamas.
“We are examining the possibilities for escalation with Israel against the background of the continuation of the siege and the delay in rehabilitating the Gaza Strip,” he said. “The Israeli attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque and on the prisoners will lead to a renewed explosion of the situation.”
Ahmad al-Modal, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, warned tonight of the continuation of the siege and claimed that they would “soon lead to an explosion in front of Israel.” He clarified that “the resistance will not allow the siege on the Palestinians to continue,” and called for the opening of the crossings, the rehabilitation of the Strip and the lifting of restrictions. Al-Modal called on mediators to intervene urgently to save the situation and to pressure Israel to implement the agreements reached, he said, at the end of Operation Wall Guard.
As mentioned, the IDF launched Operation Guardian on Jerusalem last day following a massive firing of forces in the Gaza Strip over the Jerusalem area. Since the operation, the southern sector has been relatively quiet.