PRC: Qassams will continue until IDF attacks stop
Spokesman for group who launched Saturday morning rocket attack on Sderot claims Israel attacking Palestinians collectively, cites need to create a 'balance of terror'; says 'mass evacuation of Sderot proves we are right'
Abu Mujahed, whose organization is responsible for the Saturday morning Qassam attack that left a Sderot woman injured, said that the IDF should be careful in its actions, since Palestinians in Gaza have weapons that the IDF is unaware of.
He refused to say whether the recent intensification in the Gaza Strip could affect the issue of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
When asked why PRC chose to launch Qassams, given that the recent bout of fighting was between the IDF and Hamas, he answered that "the enemy's air strikes are not just directed towards Hamas, but towards all Palestinians.
"The civilians who were hurt this morning were not combatants, and were unrelated to the resistance. It proves that Israel wants to hurt as many Palestinians as possible – both civilians and non-civilians.
"Our attack is a response to these crimes. Our rocket launchings are part of a balance of terror with the Israelis. Any harm to our civilians requires an attack on Israeli civilians, and it will continue until the Israeli attacks stop."
Abu Mujahed said that he does not feel threatened by the possibility that continued attacks on civilians in Sderot would lead to an Israeli invasion into the Gaza Strip, which could cause heavy casualties on the Palestinian side.
Stop making threats
"The Israeli army should stop making threats," he said, adding that "this is a defeated army, that thinks that an invasion in Gaza will be a walk in the park; it will be no such thing.
"The Israelis should know that we will not sit back while they continue aggressing and destroying, and they will certainly pay a heavy price. Many surprises are awaiting the Israelis if they invade the Strip."
Abu Mujahed refused to specify if the "surprises" he referred to included the use of new kinds of weapons such as antitank or antiaircraft missiles.
"If I say what the surprises are, they will no longer be surprises. I leave it up to the men of the military wing to decide how to respond, but anything is possible," he said.
The PRC's military wing's spokesman rejected the criticism against his organizations' activity and claims that its attacks were useless.
"What do they want from us? Should we raise a white flag? We won't do that. While the Israelis are bombing and killing, we will keep shooting, keep aiming and hitting, no matter what they say," he said.
Abu Mujahed said that images of the evacuation of thousands of Sderot residents from their city encouraged his men and other Palestinian organizations.
"The mass escape from Sderot proves that we are the right ones, not those who condemn the rockets. This escape proves that the enemy only understands power and that the Israelis understand that we can face their army, that's why they are leaving Sderot.
"I say to them: Leave, because the shooting will go on. Our rockets are efficient and will continue to fall as long as the Israeli army is bombing the Strip."
