Hamas: Gaza must keep low profile to strengthen “resistance” in West Bank

Terrorist group appears to be preparing for a wave of violence during the month of Ramadan, which begins this week

A senior Hamas official has said that the group must limit its terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip in order to intensify violence in the West Bank, according to a recording aired on Sunday by the public channel Kan.

Hamas military branch commander Saleh al-Arouri is heard saying that the “resistance” in the West Bank “needs restraint” in Gaza “if we are talking about strategy and in terms of the proper management of the campaign,” referring to the Ramadan period that begins this week.

The month of Ramadan, which is sacred to Muslims, has been marked by increased violence between Israelis and Palestinians, particularly in the Old City of Jerusalem, where holy sites are located. In 2021, violence in Jerusalem around the Temple Mount and the impending expulsion of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the capital triggered an 11-day war between Israel and terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.

In the recording, Saleh al-Arouri stressed that Hamas has an interest in keeping tensions high in the West Bank, while “Gaza should govern itself” and wait for the right moment. He added that calls for the escalation of the conflict from Gaza are well-intentioned, but “exaggerated,” and that the group should act strategically.

“So that the enemy is not at peace when the resistance in the West Bank escalates, it may come to a point where Gaza will not be able to remain silent in the face of the enemy. If the resistance in the West Bank intensifies and reaches a certain level, the violence will probably spread to all of Palestine and beyond,” he added.

“The future of the resistance in the West Bank will probably lead to major violence in the region with the Zionist enemy and, God willing, it will create, for the first time, an opportunity to strike a major strategic blow,” al-Arouri said.

On Sunday, two Israelis were shot and wounded, one seriously, in the northern West Bank Palestinian town of Hawara. The army said it captured the terrorist who carried out the shooting after “soldiers, and one of the two wounded civilians, (fired) live ammunition at (him) and wounded him.”

The attack occurred on the same day of Israeli-Palestinian talks, in the presence of Egyptian, Jordanian and American mediators, in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Source: i24news