Israel has reportedly warned Hamas that it will resume assassinations of the terror group’s leaders if Hamas continues to organize clashes on the Gaza border. The terror group, meanwhile, vowed revenge after Monday’s deadly riots.
“If the protests continue, the assassinations will return,” Hadashot TV news quoted security officials as saying in a message sent to Hamas via Egypt.
The reported warning came as Hamas escalated its own threats of violence.
“We say clearly today to all the world that the peaceful march of our people lured the enemy into shedding more blood,” said Khalil al-Hayya, a senior leader in Hamas.
He added that Hamas’s armed wing and other terror groups “will not prolong their silence over the crimes of the occupation.”
The threat came after the bloodiest day yet of the weeks-long violent “March of Return” protest against Israel — and the deadliest day in the Strip since the 2014 war — with Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry saying 52 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,000 wounded in the violence.
Citing Hamas sources, Hadashot TV news said 10 of the terror group’s members were killed in the clashes, including a son of its co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.
The Israel Defense Forces called the clashes “unprecedented,” compared to past weeks. READ MORE
