Palestinian gunmen
צילום: רויטרס
Al-Aqsa: Preparing for new round of confrontation
Senior group member says 'in recent days we have been operating in more organized way'; PA official says recent wave of terror attacks launched in response to Israel's operations in West Bank
Abu Nasser, a senior leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing, told Ynet Thursday: "We are preparing for a new round of confrontation with Israel, in which we will use all the means at our disposal."
"If needed, we will carry out shooting attacks and suicide bombings, hurl stones, throw Molotov cocktails and fire rockets," he warned.
Abu Nasser said he believes the recent wave of terror attacks at the Gush Etzion Junction, Migdalim, Nebi Elias and Jerusalem were not unusual.
"There were constant attempts and the resistance has not stopped. Up to the last few weeks we were in a calm, but in the past few days, after the killing of al-Aqsa's commanders in Nablus, and especially the killing of Hammouda Shatiwi at the Balata refugee camp and the assassination of senior Jihad members in the Gaza Strip, we understood that the Israelis do not appreciate our calm, and therefore we carried out these operations in the past few days as part of our right to retaliate, and they will continue," he said.
Palestinian organizations said that the high number of terror attacks in recent days was also the result of higher decisiveness, but was mainly the result of luck and accuracy.
"In the absence of a calm and in light of the enemy's escalation, we are resuming our retaliation. In the past few days, in light of the Israeli escalation and the renewal of targeted killings, we are operating in a more organized manner," Abu Nasser said.
"The organization is no longer operating in an absent-minded way, with hundreds of unorganized groups in the field. We now have a leadership, both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. This is the reason why our operations in the past few days are more targeted and successful," he added.
'Terror attack in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem not complicated'
A senior Palestinian source told Ynet that the activities and preparations among the Palestinian organizations have been intensified recently, but added that he believes the Israeli escalation in Nablus and the Gaza Strip triggered the recent terror attacks.
"There are those in Israel who decided to make it clear that they are not weak opposite Hamas and decided to inflame the area. I'm just not sure that by the election day it will help them," the source said.
The same source added that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was the person inflaming the area and attempting to create escalation and worsen the conflict because of the elections.
"After the assassinations in Nablus and the Gaza Strip, the PA continued to exert efforts to impose its authority on the area and on the organizations, but more assassinations will lead to a loss of the restraint still left toward the organizations," the Palestinian source warned.
He added that the general trend in the PA was to maintain the calm shared by most of the organizations.
Abu Nasser added that the main activities of his organizations will focus on operations against settlers and soldiers.
"However, some of Israel's crimes require a higher level of retaliation. This means that as Israel re-raised its limits by targeting leaders, we will also raise our limits," he said.
"We proved that a terror attack in Tel Aviv, Netanya or Jerusalem is not a complicated thing. We do not reject any use of any measures at the resistance's disposal and it will be subject to the need for an unusual retaliation against Israel's operation," he added.
