Sami Abu Zuhri
Hamas organization spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Tuesday the resistance in Palestine gave something serious for Israel to think about.
"We taught Israel a serious lesson. This is a message to Israel,” said Abu Zuhri. “The attitude of the resistance groups will be determined according to the behavior of Israel.”
He comments were delivered in a speech in Algeria during a solidarity demonstration with Gaza held by the Movement of Society for Peace, the largest party with Islamic affiliation in the north African country.
Following increasing escalation in the region, Palestinian resistance groups Tuesday announced a truce with Israel under Egypt's mediation.
The Palestinian government on Tuesday postponed the application of a controversial social security law that has triggered mass protests in the Palestinian territories.“The law application will be postponed for six months to give room for more discussions about amending the legislation,” Labour Minister Mamoun Abu Shahla said in statements cited by the official Wafa news agency.The move came one day after thousands of Palestinians staged a sit-in outside the government headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah to protest the law, which came into force earlier this month.The law calls for deducting 7.2 percent of private-sector employees’ monthly salaries for a social-security fund (which employers would also be expected to pay into) and setting the national retirement age -- for both men and women -- at 60 years.“There will be no fines on companies or institutions that do not register during the dialogue period,” Abu Shahla said.“All amendments to the law will be submitted to President [Mahmoud] Abbas for approval to make sure the law becomes acceptable to all parties,” he added.The law was not approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council (parliament), which has remained largely non-functional since 2007 due to fundamental political differences between Hamas (which runs the Gaza Strip) and Fatah (which controls the West Bank-based Palestinian government).
Palestinian gov’t freezes social security law
After Israeli attacks on Gaza on Monday, seven Palestinians were killed and 25 others wounded. Rockets fired by the Palestinian groups in Gaza killed an Israeli officer and injured 50 others.
A group of soldiers from the special forces affiliated with the Israeli army on Sunday infiltrated Gaza by a civilian vehicle.
Israeli troops were noticed by the forces affiliated with Hamas after entering 3 kilometers (2 miles) into Gaza, triggering the armed conflict that resulted in the martyrdom of the Palestinians and the death of the Israeli soldier.
The hext day, the Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, carried out rocket strikes, severely wounding an Israeli soldier.
Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Tuesday it was holding urgent contacts with a view to halting the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip.“These contacts aim at halting the Zionist (Israeli) escalation and its continuing aggression on our people in the Gaza,” senior Hamas member Izzat al-Rishq said on Twitter.He, however, did not provide further details about these contacts.At least five Palestinians were martyred in renewed Israeli attacks in Gaza on Tuesday and Monday following rocket fire from the seaside territory. The Israeli army said more than 20 people were injured by rocket fire.The Israeli attacks came one day after seven Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in an undercover Israeli operation in the blockaded enclave.Since March, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire during protests demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral home in what is now Israel.
Hamas says holding contacts to halt Israeli attacks
The Palestinian groups announced the attack, which hit a bus in Israel, was a retaliation to avenge a lost member who embraced martyrdom Sunday.
Following the incident, Israel commenced airstrikes on Gaza and Palestinian groups responded with rockets.
Since March 30, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire -- and thousands more injured -- while taking part in rallies along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.
Palestinian resistance factions on Tuesday warned Israel against attacking civilian facilities in the blockaded Gaza Strip."The bombing of civilian buildings will not stop the resistance,” Islamic Jihad group said in a statement.It underlined its preparedness to respond to Israeli attacks in the seaside territory.“The Israeli bombardment of residential buildings would be a continuation of aggression and a use of American weapons for terrorism,” the group said.The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas group, also said the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon would be a target of rocket fire in response to Israeli attacks on civilian buildings in Gaza.“Rocket fire would also target the cities of Ashdod and Beersheba in case Israel continued its attacks on civilian buildings in Gaza,” group spokesman Abo Obaida said on Twitter.Video: Israeli jets destroy HQ of Hamas-run TV stationFive Palestinians were martyred in renewed Israeli attacks in Gaza on Tuesday and Monday following rocket fire from the seaside territory. The Israeli army said more than 20 people were injured by rocket fire.Monday’s attacks came one day after seven Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in an undercover Israeli operation in the blockaded enclave.Since March, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire during protests demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral home in what is now Israel.
Gaza groups warn Israel over attacks on civilian homes
The Israeli army on Monday evening dispatched tanks to the Gaza Strip amid mounting tensions in the region.According to Anadolu Agency correspondents in the area, the tanks were sent from various parts of Israel to Israeli troops located along the Gaza border.Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it had targeted more than 70 positions inside Gaza affiliated with resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad in response to the launching of scores of rockets from Gaza.Additionally the Israeli military announced that it would send two more Iron Dome air defense systems to the region.Israeli fighter jets on Monday evening struck positions across the blockaded Gaza Strip in response to rocket launches from Gaza into southern Israel.Three Palestinians were martyred in the Israeli attacks, while nine were wounded, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.Artillery units near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone have reportedly targeted concentrations of Palestinian activists in central Gaza, along with resistance positions in the town of Jabalia and the city of Deir al-Balah.Israeli helicopter gunships, meanwhile, also reportedly targeted several positions in southern Gaza.In a joint statement, Palestinian resistance factions announced that they had begun firing rockets into southern Israel in response to an Israeli military incursion into the southern Gaza Strip late last night.Israeli jets destroy HQ of Hamas-run TV stationOn Monday evening, the army said it had recorded the launch of at least 200 rockets from Gaza, including 60 it claimed were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system while the others fell onto empty land.At least 19 Israelis were wounded, with one -- reportedly a soldier -- in serious condition.Late Sunday night, seven Palestinians were killed -- including a senior Hamas commander -- when an Israeli military force staged a ground incursion into the southern Gaza Strip. One Israeli soldier was killed in the raid and another injured, according to the Israeli army.Video: Israel deploys military reinforcement near Gaza border
Israel dispatches tanks to Gaza border as tensions rise